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1
2
3
1
2
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5
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CONSIDERATIONS
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ON THE
TRADE and FINANCES
OF THIS
K I N G D O M,
AND ON THE
Measures of Administration,
WITH
Relpedt to thofe great National Objeds fince the
CONCLUSION of the PEACE,
LONDON:
Printed for J. WILKIE, in St. Paul's-Church-Tardi
MDCCLXVI, [Price Three ShUlings.]
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CONSIDERATIONS
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if i'!' i; ON THE
Trtf^^ and Commerce of this Kingdom.
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THAT the Wealth and the Power of Great Britain de-
pends upon its Trade, is a Propofition, which it would
be equally abfurd in thefe times to difpute or to prove:
it was not indeed apprehended that they were fo great as they
have been found to be, we did not ourfelves knov/ our own
Strength, till the Vigour of the laft War applied the Refources
of that Wealth, and exerted the Efforts of that Power j in the
progrefs of it many Acquifitions highly beneficial to Commerce
were made j and the moft important of" them were fecured by
the Peace ; but on the other hand, the Abilities of this Country
were ftretchcd to their utmoft extent, and beyond their natural
Tone : Trade muft fuffer in proportion j for the Price both of
Labour and Materials was enhanced by the Number and the
Weight of the new Taxes, and by the fudden and extraordinary
demand which the Ruin of the French Navigation brought
upon Great Britain : in confequcnce of which, rival Nations
who were not before, may now be able in many articles to un-
derfell us at Foreign Markets, and even become Competitors at
our own. Both public and private Credit were at the fame time
opprefled by the vaft and rapid encreafe of the National Debt :
the Value of the Stocks being funk by the quantity of thtjm.
Scarcity of Money and high Rates of Intereft enfued ; and the
large unfunded Debt which remained behind, aggravated the
■ ., •■ "'■ ^ h ■ "■ / Evil,
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Evil, and affe(5lcd every Money-tranfadtion. Thefe are Circum-
ftanccs ol' very ferious concern, and important to the decifion of
any enquiry into our national Situation : to ftate them therefore
diftindlly j to fet againft them the Advantages we have gain'd j
and to examine into the Meafures which have been purfued fince
the Peace, as well thofe which will contribute to reftore order to
the Finances, to preferve or to recover Trade, and to improve our
new Acquilitions ; as thofe which have a contrary Tendency ; in
order from the whole view to form fome judgment of the real
State of this Kingdom, with refpeft to its Finances and its Com-
merce, will be attempted in the following Confiderations ; but
Meaf\^res having varied, and the national Situation and Profpedl3
being thereby mfferent at different times, it will be neceffary to
diftinguifh them into two Periods, the one ending in the laft
Year, the other comprehending all fubfequent Operations, : and
I fhall therefore endeavour to keep the Confideration of each,
entirely feparate, as the only means of determining upon ei-
ther.
The Debt contradled by the War which had been funded
before the Negociations for Peace began, con fifted of 50,730,000/.
redeemable Annuities ; of 472,500/ being the value at fourteen
years purchafe of the Annuities upon Lives which were granted in
1 757, and of 6,826,875/, being the Value of the Long Annuities
granted in 1761 and 1762, at 27^- Years purchafe, which was the
price they bore about the. time offigning the Preliminaries, and is
nearly a medium Price. The encreafed funded Debt was therefore
at that time 58,029,375/. but the Expences of the War did not
ceafe with its Operations : they continued for fome time to be
very confiderable j diftant Fleets and Armies could not be fudden-
ly recalled ; large Eftablifhments could not be immediately re-
duced J and on thefe and other accounts it was neceffary be-
tween the figning of the Preliminaries and the Conclufion of the
Peace, to make a Lo^n of 3,500,000/. The Fund provided for
the payment of the Am)uities thereon were the additional Duties
of 8/. per Ton on French Wine and Vinegar, of 4/. per Ton on
other Wines and Vinegars, and of 2/. per Ton on Cyder and
Perry imported; and a new duty of 4J.perHogfhead on all Cyder and
Perry rxixd<s inGreat Britain to be paid by the Maker thereof. The
Sum
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[ 5 ]
Sum to be ralfed on this Fund was wanted for immediate Services,
and prefling Demands, and a vafl Debt ftill remained unfunded ;
that part of it only which confifted of Navy Bills and Ordnance
Debentures amounted to 3,670,739/. 2s. bV. and for thefe a tem-
porary Provifion was immediately made, in the fame manner as
nad been done at the end of the former War, with refpeft to the
then out-ftanding Bills and Debentures, by charging upon the
Sinking Fund fo many of them as fhould be fubfcribed, to
be converted into Stock at four per cent, redeemable. The In-
tereft was the fame as before, but when it was upon Bills, the
time of Payment was uncei iain j upon the Stock it is regu-
lar : they were indeed always afilgnable, but not divifible j if
therefore the Money which the Bill-holder wanted was lefs than
his Bill was worth, he was obliged to fell more than he wiflied,
the entire Bill only, and not a part of *t being faleablc : and
as many of them were for large, and moft of them for frac-
tional Sums, it was often difficult to difpofe of them : Stock on
the contrary, in any proportion and at any time will find a Pur-
chafer. On thefe Confiderations the Majority of the Proprie-
tors to the amount of 3,483,553/. ij. lod'. were induced to fub-
fcribe,and theMarket was thereby cleared of agreat quantity of Pa-
{)e,-circulation upon Government-fecurity, wnich had excluded a
ike Circulation upon private Security, and engroffed all the ready
Cafli : this operation therefore made an opening for the admif-
lion of Notes and perfonal Security, facilitated Difcount, and oc-
cafioned an eafier Circulation of Money.
But notwithftanding this Relief a large Debt was ftill unpro-
vided for J it accumulated the next year ; and Trade and Credit
and the Stocks all laboured under the Oppreflion. It was fo
fenfibly felt, that many perfons impatient of the burthen,
thought a further Loan ncceflary for paying off a confiderable
part of it ; but they did not fufficiently refled: on the perma-
nent Mifchief which the creating of a Fund equal to fuch a
Loan would have occafioned : the confiderable Surplufies which
were in the difpofal of Parliament, the Surplufles of the Duties
on Coals and Culm, of thofe on Soap, Paper, Starch, Linens, Silks,
Callicoes, and Stuffs; of the Stamp-duties, and of the Duties uponr
B 2 Licences
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Liv'cnccs for ret.ulirigSpIntuousLiqu.orswrre a]l appropriated: The
high duties which the Lcj^i.' aturc had laid upon fpirituous Liquors
to prevent the too frequent ufe of them, were alfo appHed : the
Funds which Luxury could fupply, were cxhauflcd by the Taxes
impofed upon Plate, Cards, Dice, Brandy, and Wine : Com-
merce had furnirtied its quota hy a further fubfidy on Eaft-Indian
conrimodities, on the produce of our own Plantations, on Grocery,
Linens, and other niifcellaneous articles : Property had again and
again been called upon to raife frefli Contributions by additional
Stamp Duties, additional Duties on Houfes, additional Duties on
Windows : and the demands of the War ftill crouding on, re-
courfe had at lad been had to thofc Supplies which an univer-
verfal Home confumption could raife : The common Beverage of
the people was chofen, and Duties were laid on Malt, on Beer,
and on Cyder : Thefe prefled immediately on the middling and
lower Ranks, on Husbandmen and Manufadlurers, who were not
indifferent to many of the other duties j the Wages of Labour
were raifed j the value of foreign Commodities and even of our
native produce was enhanced j and thefe are circumflances al-
ways prejudicial, frequently dangerous, and fometimes fatal to
Trade and Manufadlurers. Was this a time to impofe a new
tax which muft have been heavy to have been eftedual j and
which, lo far as our commercial Interefts might have been af-
fected by it, would not in the end have been a benefit, though
it {hould be a prefent Relief, to public Credit ?
But even if a Fund free from any objedtion had been ready, an
accidental diftrefs frorh another quarter would have prevented the
application of it : the Failures at Berlirit at Hamburgh^ and in
Holland^ which happened about the month of September ^ 1763,
had fpread Terror to every commercial City on the Continent :
the effedts of fuch Bankruptcies could not but be great and ex-
tenlive ; they were unknown, and therefore appeared greater :
no man was fure that he himfelf was fafe ; every one concluded
that others were ruined j they were afraid they fhould be drawn
uponi they were afraid to draw; and difmay and diftruft appearing
in every countenance, encreafed their mutual apprehenfions: Wealth
could not procure Credit, nor connexion Confidence ; but uni-
verfal
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vcrfal doubt prevailed : and all, e:.'^:::!^ing, what they feared, and
di(believing what they heard, impatiently waited in Cunfterna-
tion and Defpair for a Certainty which they dreaded to receive.
The Briiijli Merchants alone bthaved with a Spirit cqiial to the
Crifis : thougjii they were particularly unprepared for fuch an
Event at that conlunfture, when all Europe was deeply,, and
they were m6ie deeply than any, enga|^ in the Stocks, which
in confequtnce of this Calamity were falling ; though molt of
their Tranfadions therein were Time-bargains^. by which their
Credit was already ftretchcd, and they had made thcmfelves
anfwerable for a new Species of Demands, great in amount,,
near in profpetSt,. and which could not be poftponed, even for a
Day J yet amidft thcfe accumulated Ditliculties, regardkfs of the.
partial Security of their own particular Houfes, they applied
thcmfelves wholly to provide for the general Safety : though
the Situations of their Correfpondents were acknowledged
to be precarious, they trufted them more than ever : they
t^rnjcd all they could into Money, they fold at a lofs, they bor-
rbwed, in order to lehdj and then niade vaft and immediate
Rferhittamces to the Places where theDiftrefs and the Danger were
.the greateft; The Encouragement and Concurrence of a firm Ad-
^hiinifti-ation fupported their Refolution, and feconded their. Ef-
,f6rcs : the Bank on this preffing Occafion, inftead of paying irt
Silver^ doubting on Securities, or recurring to ar^y of the little
Expedients of .Caution and Delay^ boldly, and without Hefita-
tion,. and witnout i-eferve, gave the moil liberal and effedual
Afliftance, by difcounting Bills with the readieft Difpatch, and to
an incredible amount : and the Merchants being from thence
fupplied with laraer Sunis than they themfelves thought itpoflible
for' them to command, and fending away all they could procure,
"by fuch a feafonab>le and "vigorous exertion of their powers, prc-
ven^ted the Bankruptcy of Europe. But all their generous En-'
deavours might have failed, if the Money wanted for this great
"ptirpole had 'h^een diverted to any other j or, if any Check had
"been given to an Operation, to which the leaft delay muft have
been fatal i' and which the fhorteft Intermiflion might have ren-
dered abortive. A Loan made under fuch Circumftances would
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'h.ivc bcen-Qtt.nded with the Ruin of many Individuals ; the Price
of the Stocks already fallen by the Quantities which had been
fold in order to raife Money, mull have funk flill lower; and the
further deprclTion of both public and private Credit would have
been the inevitable confequence of fuch a defperate mcafure.
On the other hand it feemed at fitft fight impoflible, effedlu-
ally to relieve the public of the Burthen of fo large an unfund-
ed Debt by arty other means : It was however attempted, and the
Attempt has fucceeded beyond Expcdtation. A ftridl Scrutiny was
during theYcafs 1764 and 1765 made into the feveral Bran-
ches of the Revenue, into the Colledlion, and into the Expen-
diture : thofe Revenues were encfeafed by a flcady Execution
of the Laws relating to them, and irtiproved by additional Regu-
lations : ne.v Refources of Finance were opened ; and the whole
"was conduced with a Frugality, which was important becaufe it
"was univerfal, and generous as its Objeft was Juftice. From the
^Concurrence of allthcfe Meafures, Supplies were found in the
Teurs 1764 and 1765, fufficient to reduce the unfunded Debt
within fuck accmpafs, as to be no longer oppreflive upon pub-
lic Credit jlh"lt patt 6£ it v^hich confifted in Navy-bills only ex-
cepted : they had accumulated fo fad, that tho' 650,000/. had
been granted in 'the Supplies for 1764, towards difcharging the
Debt of the "Navy, yet the Bills in courfe of Payment on 31ft
'DecemSer, 'i'/6/^, with the Intereft due thereon, amounted to
1,971,589/. 5J. 8i/. to eafe the Market of this Incumbrance, it
was propofcd'to provide for the major Part of them by creating a
'Fund for 1,500,000/. TheDiftrefs of the laft Year was now en-
tirely at an'End ; the Alarm it had occafioned was fubfided ; Mo-
ney was in plenty » the Stocks were rifing j Trade flouriHied j
■and the Courfe of Exchange was in our favour: there could there-
•fore be no difficulty in making a Loan j the terms offered and ac-
cepted were two-fifths in redeemable Annuities; two-fifths inLot-
tery-Tickets; and the remaining one-fifth either in a redeemable
Annuity, orLife-annuity with Benefit of Survivorfliip, at the op-
'tion of the Subfcribersj the whole at three per cent. Of this pro-
pofition the two-fifths in tliree per cent. Annuities were the only
Parr, whofe Value could be exactly afcertained; the Survivorfhips
coiHd not properly be v/orfe then thcfe, for thefe might be taken
inilead
■OWWD«y ,•
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[ 9 ]
inftead of themi tliere was a chance that they might be better j
they had fcldom been tried in tng/and, and never in parallel Cir-
cumftances ; in France they had often fucceeded i and if they
fnould fucceed here, they might be applied to greater purpofes :
if they failed, the fum engaged being fo fmall, and an option being
given between them and the three per cent Annuities, no bad con-
lequence could enfue. On thefe confideratics the Experiment
was made, ii has not fuccocded, and no bad confequence has en-
fued. As to the Lottery- tickets, it was known by experience that
they would bear fome premium; and whatever advantage might
be made, was offered in the firll inflance to the Holders of Navy-
bills, who having fuffered by the delay, were entitled to favour,
in the manner of payment } and who had therefore an option
given them either to be paid at par, or to fubfcribe: For this pur-
pofe the Subfcription war> .pened for Navy-biJls only to a cer-
tain day J by that time fo many as amounted to 1,347,500/.
were fubfcribed; the Bill-holders therefore to that great amount
thought the Subfcription more eligible than payment at par: The
remaining Sum of 152,500/. was afterwards made up by the
contributions of other perfons : but the whole fum being ap-
plied to the difcharge of Navy-bills, the load of fuch a quantity
of that kind of Circulation was taken off; and a faving oi
i^yOOol, per annum WAS made to the Public, by fubftituting a
Stock at three percent, inftead of Navy-bills at four; which was
done at a time when the three per cents, were below 87,. and
I believe there is no inftancc of Money borrowed at that rate,,
while the Stocks bearing the fame Intereft were {o greatly under
par.
Yet how ferviceable foever this operation might be to public
Credit, it would not in the end have proved a national benefit, if
an at'-^itional burthen upon Trade had been the means employed
to effedl it; but the Duties which compofe the Fund then created,,
are in no degree hurtful, and may in- £ow^ refpedts be beneficial
to Trade: they are Duties upon Coals, Eajt-India Silks, and Cal-
licoes exported, and upon Policies of Infurance : That upon Coals,
exported ic of four Shillings upon theiVSjif^f^/t' Chaldron, which is
tvv^o Shillings the Lfl;7<^ Chaldron; aad bsin^ paid by Foreigners
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[ 10 ]
only is in that refped a matter of InditFerence to this Country ;
but in another it is of importance : for Coals are necelTary to
the Dyers, the Glafs-houfes, the Iron-works, the Diftilleries,
and otherManufaclories abroad, and a Tax upon them is an advan-
tage given to the rival Britijh Manufa(5tures, who now want
every Affiftance: nor is there any danger of lofmg the Trade by
fo moderate a Burthen upjon it j on the contrary it will encreafe,
as the Peet begins to fail in Holland ; and though Coals are
found in the Country oi Liege, and in feveral parts of Flanders,
yet being fubjedl to a variety of Tolls in the different States
through which they muft be brought, they cannot, when they
tirrive in Holland, be fold fo cheap as the Sunderland Coals. As
to the Eaji Indian Commodities which are charged to this Fund,
fome Impofition upon them was neceflary for the prefervation of
our American Commerce in that article : a Duty had been laid in
the preceding year upon the fame Commodities exported to the
Colonies : the only material objedtion to it was that the Dutch,
who buy thofe goods here, would be able to underfell us in Ame-
rica ; but this was remedied by extending the charge to all that are
exported ; a Duty of five per cent, ad valorem on the prohibited
Silks and Callicoes, and of two per cent, on the white Calliroes
which have not been printed or dyed in England, feemed fuffi-
cient to anfwer the purpofe, as the foreign Merchants who pur-
chafe here muft necefl'arily incur fome Expences of Freight and
Commiffion, from which the Britijh Traders are free. The re-
mainder of the Fund is made up by thenew Duties upon Policies of
Infurance : Thofe Inftruments had been fo varioufly charged, and
the Ads relating to them were interpreted fo abfurdly, that fome
Regulation was proper on the principle of equality : no more than
«ne Shilling was paid on Policies executed in t^e Country, while
thofe executed within the Bills of Moitality were charged with
three Shillings and ten Pence, if made out at a private office ;
and with one Shilling more if made out by the Infurance Com-
panies ; there is no r^afon for any diftindtion, and they are there-
ibre now all brought up to five Shillings j the difference I be-
lieve will not be very fenfibly felt any where : if it ffiould, the
occafion for. putting them all upon a level will be the more ap-
■ ' parent
■^^'^.
parent. The whole Fund thus compleated will, when brought
into a regular Channel, undoubtedly produce 45,000/. which is
the Interell of the 1,500,000/. railed upon the Credit of it.
If to this Sum of 1,500,000/. be added 58,029,375/ the Debt
contrafted before the Negotiations began, and that which was
funded between the figning of the Preliminaries and the Con-
clufion of the Treaty, viz. 3,500,000/. on the Wine and Cyder-
tax, and 3,4^3,553/. I/. I o</. Navy Ann s, the whole funded
Debt contracted by the War and funded before the end of the
Sellion, 1765, appears to be 66,512,928/. is. lod. The Taxes ne-
ceffaiy for paying the Interefl of fo large a Capital, muft fooner
or later be detrimental to many Branches of the Manufadtures,
Produce, and Trade of this Kingdom. The Evil was unavoid-
able when the Expence was fo great ; but from the time that
the prefllng Demands for immediate Services ceafed, care was
taken not to augment it j and feveral of the Regulations relative
to Trade, which will occur in the following Sheets, are calcu-
lated to check and diminilh its pernicious Effe(5ls : but the moffc
Iblid confolation under the Lofs we may fuftain, arifes from the
Acquifitions made in America \ by a due Improvement of which
many of the moll important Articles of our Commerce will be
encreafcd, and others which we had not before may be ob-
tained : what Attention has been given to thefe I {hall have oc-
cafion hereafter to fhew ; it fuffices for the prefent to obferve,
that we muft from thence chiefly expedl Compenfation for the
Difadvantages under which our Trade will labour in the European
and other Markets, where we have Competitors to encounter. We
are entitled to this the only return which the Colonies can make
for all the Benefits fo lately and fo liberally beftowed upon them j
and if the fupreme Authority of this Country be properly fup-
ported, we (hail receive it.
Another Mifchief attending fo vaft an Accumulation of Debt,
is the opportunity it gives of making a great Intereft of Money :
That which may b made in the Stocks depends upon the Price
they bear J and they have continued to be below their ufual Le.el
in times of Peaco for feveral Reafons. The vaftAmount now of the
National Debt is oncj as the greater the quantity is of any Commo-
dity
■ (I.;
c
T ?^-
i
<llfy at Market, the cheaper it mull be : that quantity however
wculd not have had the fame influence on the Price, if the encreafc
had been more gradual j the firft Subfcribers and the firft Pur-
chafers from them, engaged with a view to profit only, and not
with any Intention to continue in the new-created Funds j but
thefe Funds are fo large, that a fufficient number of Stock-hol-
ders could not eaftly be found to buy into them ; and the Ad-
venturers being all of them inclined, and fome of them forced
to fell, have been the means rather of depreffing than of fup-
plying the Market. Others again bought into the Engii/h
Funds, not indeed for gaming purpofes, but ftill for a temporary
convenience ; the Inhabitants of thofe Countries which were ra-
vaged or threatened by the War, remitted all they could hi-
ther, as to a place of Security ; but their DiftrelTes being at aiv
end, they have wanted it again at Home : and feveral Perfons and
Houfes on the Continent, though they were in places where
themfelves dnd their Properties were fafe, yet their German Cor •
refpondence and Traffick being interrupted, they vefted the
Sums which by that meaffs were unemployed, in Funds where
they were fure of a confiderablc Intereft, and had a fair profped:
of greater Gain, before the Revival of their Trade after a Peace
could make it neceflary for them to recall their Money. When
Proprietors of fo many Denominations are all Sellers, they muft
greatly out-number the Buyers, and that Difproportion, fo long
as it continues, will neceflarily keep down the Price : The Shock.
^ivcn to all Credit by the Failures abroad encreafed the Difpro-
portion, and maintained it longer than it would otherwife have
iubfifted ; but the Difference now dimifhes every Day; many
have by Degrees difpofed of all they wifhed to get rid oi ; Pur-
chafers multiply as the Plenty of Money encreafcsj the arbitrary
Redu(ftion of the French Funds has fhewn the Preference due to
thofe of England for tlieir Certainty j a large Supply conftantly
arifes out of the Stocks themfelves, as a confiderable Part of
the Dividends upon the Eftates of Infants, of Foreigners, and
of Perfons who live within their Incomes, is continually laying
■out in the Purchafe of more Capital j and from thefe and many,
other concurring Caufes, the Stocks, have been for fome time
generally
•eawa^ ' i* ■'■*■% '
C u J
generally iifing : The Circumftances which kept them low, and
which no Art or Force could remove, becaufe they fprung out;
of the Nature of a vaft Stock, fuddenly accumulated, in Tuch
u Slate of Affairs as that of Europe then was, have gradually gi-
ven way to the Effefts of time and Peace, and made room for the
Operation of thofe IVIcafures which were conducive to the
fame falutary end of enhancing the Value of the public Funds.
To this the Difcharge of a large unfunded Debt principally con-
tributed ; for not only the Money therein abforbed was fet free,
but the Credit of the Nation was raifed by fuch a Proof of its
Ability ; and the Advantages which were feafonably taken of thefe
favourable Circumftances, advanced its Reputation ftill more.
All the Annuities which were granted at a higher Rate than
three per cent, during the War, are irredeemable for a certain
Term : The near Profpe«5l of Peace in 1763, enabled the Go-
vernment to get rid of fo irkfome and prejudicial a Reftridion,
and with the Afiiftancc of a Lottery to raife Money at four per
cent, redeemable : In the laft Year all that was wanted was by
the fame Means raifed at three per cent, redeemable ; and the
like Reduction was alfo applied to other Tranfadlions : The Ex-
chequer Bills were iffued at four per cent, till the Clofe of the
Year 1 764, when an Experiment was mad[e upon Part of them
St three and a half ; in 1765, the whole 800,000/. was ilfued at
three, and even at that rate they were generally about and
fometimes above par : The Bank Contrad: alfo for the Land and
Malt which had till then been at four per cent, was in 1 765 made
at 34- for the Malt, and for the firft Million of the Land-tax,
und at three for the fecond, which was in effedt a Redudion of
the whole to three for the next Year ; and from all thefe fymp-
toms it was evident evsn during the Year 1765, within two
Years of the Conclufion of the Peace, that the Government
could procure Money at three per cent, for the future : the Con-
fequence of which mud be the Rife of the Stocks j and the
Benefits from thence refulting both to the landed and the monied
Interefts of this Kingdom, are too obvious to be mentioned.
A great, if not the principal, Share in producing thefe favour-
able Appearances, mull be attributed to the Provilion made in fo
C 2 fliort
) ".
!> -
,A.
[ H ]
flfiort a time for fo large a Part of the Unfunded Debt i it is
therefore now proper to fee in what manner and to what amount
that was effedled : The whole Debt cannot be flated at any par-
ticular Period ; for fome Parts of it were difcharged, before
others were accounted for ; I will therefore take the Articles
feparately,, and having fliewn what was ''")ne upon each, I will
afterwards endeavour to form a general View of the Whole,
which may then be intelligible. The moft formidable in Ap-
pearance were the German Demands ; they amounted to near
nine Millions Sterling, and though infinitely various in the
Grounds upon which they were founded, and the Manner in
which they were made up, yet for the prefent Purpofe they
may be confidered under three Heads, ranging them according
to the different Modes of proceeding which have been followed
in difcharging them.
The Firft is the Claim of the Duke of Brunfwick to a Sub-
fidy of 43,901/. 3^. yd. -^ for two Years after the Defermina-
ticn of the War. The Right was unqueftionable, being found-
ed upon Treaties, in which the Sum was fpecified, and there-
fore the Debt has been regularly paid as it has accrued :
33,557/. 6^. 9</. vT became due in 1763, andprovifion was made
for it in the Supplies for that Year : This therefore cannot pro-
perly be called a Debt unprovided for at the End of the War :
But the remaining 54,245/. os, ^d. yV was ftridtly fo, and has
been difcharged as. fuch, viz. 43,901/. 3^. yd. -^t ont of the
Supplies for the Year 1764, and 10,343/. its. gd. 7r out
of the Supplies for ^(765, which lall Sum clofes this Ac-
count. The Landgrave of He/Ji' had a Claim to a Subfidy for
one Year after the Peace -y but Part of it having been paid out
of the Supplies of ^762, and all the Remainder provided for
in thofe oS 1763, it cannot be carried to that unfunded Debt
which alone I mean to confider.
The next Head is the Demand of the Landgrave of HeJJ'e,
Ibr the reafonable Succour which was agreed to be given to him
by the Convention made on lil oi April, 1760, in cafe his Do-^
minions fhould be invaded and laid under Contribution : They
were invaded, and his Claim tl.rerefore to fome Succour was
i > founded
^'^'^^
f '5 I
foimdcd upon Treaty ; but what fliould be deemed reafonable
was a Subjed: of great Difcuflion. No precife Sum was ftipu-
lated, and 2 20»ooo/. had in performance of this Agreement
been given in 1761, of which 120,000/. were paid immediately^
and 50,000/. in 1762^ and 50,000/. in 1763. On the Con-
clufion of the Peace the Landgrave delivered an Account of fur-
ther Damages fuflained to the Amount of 10,382,668 German
Crowns, which are above 1,730,000/. Sterling, This was ob-
jefted to as an unreafonable Demand, and the AfFair being put
into Negotiation, it was at laft agreed to pay the LandgriivR
150,000/. which Sum payable in three Years was accepted by a
Protocol, figned 21ft Alarc/i, 1764, in total Extinction of all>
Demands and Pretenfions whatfoever, which his Serene High-
aefs might from under the Title of reafonable Succour, or
otherwife, fuch Sums only excepted as ftiould appear to be juitly.
due upon Contracts made by Perfons duly authorized for that
Purpofe : in confequence of this Agreement 50,000/. were paid,
in 1764, 50,000/, irv 1765, and the remaining 50,000/. are pro-
vided for in the Supplies of the prefent Year.
The third Head comprehends all thofe German Demands,
which no Treaty had fixed, and which no Negotiation could
fettle ; but which being meer Matters of Account, could be
adjufted only by Liquidation. A fpecial Commiffion was there-
fore appointed for that Purpofe, and nothing lefs would have
been equal to a Bufinefs fo various,, perplexed,, and extenlive..
An Office at home, immediately under the Infpe(3:ion of the
Treafury, and reporting to them all their Proceedings, to be by
them fubmitted to the Judgment of Parliament j an Office adl-
ijig under Inftruftions adapted to that end only, colle<5ting within
its own View all the Information which the feveral Departments
of the CommilTariate could give, and furniflied with every other
Means of Enquiry ; feeing the whole of the Demand together,
checking one Part of it by another, and equally informed, of the
Rights of the Crown and of the Claimants ;. fuch an Office-
only was able to detedl the Frauds and Abufes which had been*
pradtifed, to rtate long and intricate Accounts, and to determine
the juft Ballance between the Pubiick. and its Creditors. Upon,
. . thefe.
. H
If
t:
i\
ii\
[ i6 ]
thefe Motives all further Proceedings in Germany vrere ftoppetJ,
the Commiflariate there was recalled, and three Commiffioners
appointed here to examine the German Demands. To prevent
Delay a certain Day was fixed, beyond which no Claims were
to be received ; fuch a Declaration invited none, though it ad-
mitted all ; and it brought the whole together by the Time ap--
pointed: but a great Part was excluded from immediate Exa-
mination, becaute moft of the States on the Continent had pre-
tended to do thcmfelves Juftice, by feizing the BritiJJi Maga-
zines in their Territories : It did not become the Dignity of the
Crown of Great-Britain to fubmit to an Arrell of its Property,
or to fufFer others to ufurp the Difpenfation of its Juftice : No-
tice was therefore given that no Claims made by the Subje<fts of
"thofc Countries in which fuch Seifures had been permitted, fliould
be fo much as taken into Confideration, till not only full Refti-
tution was made, but Satisfaction alfo given for the Damages
fuftained ', in confequence of which fpirited Meafure, the Ma-
gazines were after a few fruitlefs Remonftrances reftored, and the
Accounts of the Parties who had been excluded, were then exa-
mined with the reft. The whole amounted to more than k\tn
Millions Sterling ; the Articles which compol'ed this enormous
Sum were fome of them juft and reafonable, for Services done.
Supplies furnifhed, or Expences incurred, under Contradl, by
Agreement, or in confequence of a proper Requifition ; but
Kiany were fraudulent ; many were fufpicious ; others though
fairly ftated, appeared upon Examination to be either not
founded upon Right or not fupported by Vouchers j and many
were upon the Face of them totally inadmiffable, in which no
Impofition was attempted, no Services were pretended to have
;been performed, but Valuations only of Lofles fuftained were
•oflfered, and Indemnifications demanded as Debts : Even our
Enemies have defired to be reimburfed, the Contributions le-
vied upon them. Such ana all other equally groundlefs Claims
being rejected, and the proper Deductions being made from
others, the Sum of 7,132,652/. 5/. 5^/. to which the whole of
thefeDemands amounted, has been reduced to 1 , 1 06,043/. ^ V' ^t
with Juftice to the Claimants, and equally to the Honour of thofe
who
•Owhd av
vil
wko inilltuled, and of thbfc who execute the Office fi)&ln{Qida»
t?ng theiri. Provifidrt lyas beeii iMide for the. Payment as the
Reports from the "eomhiiffioficw* h4vb «ome in: and for this
Purpofe 500^600/. were granted in 17641, as much moii in ty(>S*
and 1 06,043/. ' 3''"- ^^' r ^^^ ^^^^ granted this Year in full Sa-
lisfadlion of the Remainder. «o " .
ii * rhe Acconnt thefefcjue of all the German Demands appears
ifrdm what has been faid to ftands'thufrr -o ;
- Deittin<iled.
''■f.
)jisb.
I ..-J.,
(
54.^45 05*^. 54.145
Subfidf to the Duke of Brutf- ?
wick, . '
RcafonabJe Succour to' thei , ^,^ . ,. ^ - .
LandgraVc of Hefe ' S ^73«>»441^ 00 |
MifccMaheous Jjimands. - 7,132,652 5
/,
Aiyable.
J.
5i«
uii.
5
150,000 o o
i',i'66,043
13 8*
«*-T-
.. I
14 lU
Total 8,917,341 5 ioIt 1,310,288
Btit tncTQgh tfic Whole amounts to very near 9,pob»ooo/. yet as
all' winch oh the faircft Exarilinatioh w^s fdttnd to be juftlf
due Has been difchafgied for i,'3'ic,i28S^. 14/. k/.^^ ho mor©
thah that Sutn can be%tfe:ljr tailed i t)4W!, and in this Light
It is- hot fo cbnfideraMi a* others ^^ich will not admit of a
like Redudtion.
- ThcJ Uhfiir^ded Debt of thS Navy was fai» fereatcf,' though
that tQQ vfis Jeifs 'thah it ai>|)eired to be, indthbugh I flidl e*-
xlude from tWsf'Acc^iyhtthfe Debt prdvidcd fijriri this Supplies
for 1763, a« that PfoVifion •^vas iliade bfefore the final Conclu-
fion of the Pttce, and die Sums funded in that Yfcar have beeh
already carried to. the Funded Debt cbhtradted by the War :
fiut befides the great Quaritity pf Nlvy Bill* tlien cbnverted
into Annuities, and notWithftapdrng {hie Prcfvifidn^made tojpfe*-
vent if poffible- an Ehcreafe, by votlhg^ joj boo Seamen for the
whole I ear, when the Peace Eilablifhment \<ras intended to bie
• TKough . 50^000/. of the reafonalife Succour to )iie hinS^nvidf ifepi ztid
iof),dJl^t i^t. 8//.^ oft^e'mirccnin^biJsDetnatitJs be^videfl for ih tfwSu|»plies fdr
tbii Y^aH at^^ tl\4r^tt^d6ni>t^i^p6t\ytM\ Mnthin f!)e J^iod how iatmcdiatelfrlii-
ibre n^ jet.lihm^t jtlfronVi^l^^^Dfiors fttisfa^orj jjj^cgft theiw hereJ;aj jj^e
S^ut^ent^bf all the Girmatt Demands' was 'entirely the Vftai^ire of the Admmi-
ftration in 1764 ; and the Account being compleatly clofed, it (hould be ftated all
togcth«r.
C 4 no
[ 1.8 3^
no mwe than- 16,000, yet fucb^'as at firft the Extent of tho
Services, it rcc^uired fo much Time to bring home the Ships,
otheE Demandv contirtued to be fo great, and fuch^ large Arrears
came in, that the Navy Debt not included in. theSubfcription of
1176 3, .adc, i. to what was afterwards brough't to account in 1764
and 1765, (the whole of which was in the ftri(£tell Senfe
unprovided for during the War,) amounted to no lefs than
4,576,(. 1 5/. ys. gd. of tliis 650,000/. were paid ofF.in- 1764,, and
1,500,000/. were difpofed of in 1765 by the Subfcription ;
thelc two Sums therefbre being deduced it was reduced to
2,426,915/. ys. gd. but thea the whole of the Navy Debt is
not payable when the Account is made up, and fome w;ill never
be demanded : The Navy Bills are not due tilF fix Months after
they have beea ifTued ; fix Months alfo of the S^wnen'sWagc^s
by Adt of Parliament always muft be, and in coniequenceof the
Rules preferibed by- that A£V, twelve Month$ Wages generally,
and often much more are retained : And there has beea befides
at all Timeji a large Arrear of Pay^ which- though kep;t.in the
Account could' never Jbe claimed,,, the Perfons to whom.it was
due having left neither Affignees nor Repreientatives.. The pre.-
cife Amount of fuch Sums cannot be afcertained^ hut .they can <
hardly be reckoned lefs than thirteen or fourteen hundred thou^
fand Pounds. On- 3ift.D^tf<'«^^r, 1 7,54,. when the Navy^ Debt
was reduced- nearly as low as it could be,, it ftiU amounted to '
1,296,567/. i8j.. I id,^ confilting chiefly of Articles which could
not then be difcharged ; iuch. Articles will belareer now in prorp
portion to the Encreafe of the Eilablifhment, and an. Allowance
muft always be made for them . in iudgine of the State of the
Navy Debt,, though they are notdiftinguimable in the Account.
In providing for that whick is payble,^ the. principal ObJ<^(^
of the Legiflature is always to difcharge the Bills^.for they are
the great^ Article, they bear an Intereft' of four p/r cent, and when
the Quantity of them is large, they are a heavy Incumbrance up-
on all Money Tranfadions. Both the. Subfcriptions which. I-
have mentioned were opened avowedly for that Purpofe.only.;
and the Money granttedin 1764, towacds the Difcharge of the
Navy
I. Jk fj^.' ' ' i f i.i.
.iUltVJiV -^ii, IIGS
I in
,^UHo ,
'«•
'tr- ' ^sr.
ley are
id when
ice up-
only.;
of the
Navy
[ ^9 ]
Navy Debt, wfis applied to no other ; the faving of Intcrcfl: there-
cy made was 26,000/. and the favuig in the fubfequent Year of
one per cent, on 1,500,000/. has been mentioned already. A.
fmall Deduction muft however be made from thefe Sums, for the
non-intereil Bills, and for the Intereft upon the others which has
been converted into Principal. All fuch Allowances and De-
ductions amouni: however to a very Trifle, and as I cannot afcer-
tain them exaftly, arid they are fo in jonfiderable, it will be fufii-
cieit to have taken this: Notice of them.
The Proceeding with refpedt to the Army at the Conclufion
of vhe War was fimilar to that which had been followed with
Refpedt to the Navy : The Extiaordinaries brought to account
were provided for, and more Forces were voted than the Peace
Eftablilhment was intended to be, in order to allow for the
gradual Redudion of thofe then on Foot : It could not however
be made fo faft as was propofed j many Regiments were at very
diftant Parts of the Globe, maintaining or purfui.ng the Conquells
they had made: The next Year was found not fufficient to reduce
them ; great Expences were ftill hece/Tary ; and large Arrears
came in j by all which the Extraordinaries of the Army in-
curred and not provided for in 1763, were fwclled up to the Sum
of 987,434/ ifj. 6d. 4 which were paid out of the Supplies for
1764 : Thofe incurred in that Year and provided for in the Sup-
plies for 1763, amounted to 404,49^/. js. td, which added to
.the former amount to 1,391,931/ y\ od. f.
The Extraordinaries of the Ordnance difcharged within the
fame Period as not having been provided for in the Supplies for the
Year in which they were incurred, amount to 107,878/. \%s. Sd.
viz. 52,359/. 8j. id., ift IZ^/^* ^^^ 55*5^9^' ^o-*"* 7^' *"
It may be faid that the whole of thefe Extraordinaries, whe-
ther of the Navy, of the Army, or of the Ordnance, are not to
be imputed to the War ; but the whole was Debt : The Ex-
ceedings of the Navy bear the Name of Debt j thofe of the
Army and Ordnance are of the fame Nature ; and whoever
•.will look into the Accounts will find that moft of the Articles
- _ ' D can
J>: ;,•
f
il
[ " ]
can relate ohly or relate principally to the War *. Tliere will
indeed always be Extraordinaries ; but it would be a melancholy
Profpedt if We had any Rcaf6n to apprehend, that upon a fettled
Pvrace-Eftablifhnftent, they would be nearly equal to tnefe : Whea
I come to ftate that EftablKhment, 1 will endeavour to form
fome Calculations concerning them.
The Deficifences of Grants. and of Funds are alfo generally but
liot ncceffarily Articles in the' Supplies for Times of Peace ; for
Eftimates mutt always be vigue, atid the Produce of Taxes uncer*
tain ; but there may be an Overplus as well as a Deficiency, and the
one is applied, the other is provided for, each as it arifes j when the
Deficiency happens it isaDebt, paid in this, but incurred in a for-
mer Year ; That of the Land and Malt is indeed conftant : Thoft-
Taxes are always given for jnore than they ever produce ; and the
Confequence is that aDebtis thereby contradled»which is regularly
difcharged in the fubfequent Year ; it varies, but it is common*
ly eftimated afe 300,000/. and as in Conformity to the eftablifhed
Method of making up the public Accounts, I (hall in ftating the
Ways and Means reckon thefe Taxes at the whole Sum ^r which«
they are given, I muft in order to ballance the Acco^Jht reckon
this Deficiency in the Supply at 300,00.0/. per annu)n j but as.
fa much may upon an Average be expefted every Year, till a Re-
du<^ion of the Land-Tax {hall take place, and as it cannot be.
attributed to the War, I will diftinguifti it from the Debts paid,
off within the laft two Years, when I enumerate them together:
The other Deficiences of Grants muft however be included in^
that Account ; they are accidental, and are incurred in the fame-
Manner as other Parts of the unfunded Debt^ by Services beings
performed before they are provided for j for fo far as a Service
exceeds, or a Grant falls fliort of an Eflimate, no Provifion can;
be faid to have been made ; and fuch Deficiences are not lefs a
Debt becaufe they are of no longer ftanding than a Year. Tha
principal Articles, however, of the Deficiencies now under Con-
fideration, do not fall even within that Defcription-: They might
yj^' ^:l>:■'■T'■''..<"■
* Itmufthowev^rbeyiwaysremiErtiberedthataNavyDebt of i,296.567/i8/n</|>
liibfifted before the War, which as not belonging to th« War, muft be dtdu£led
fforu the Debt iwinaining at the End of it.
witk
[ 21 ]
with more Propriety be carried back to the War : The Intercft
upon Exchequer Bills is one, which Exchequer Bills are a Part
ot the unfunded Debt contradled by the War : The Difference
between the eftimatcd and real Deficiency of the Land and
Malt is another ; a Difference which is chiefly owing to tJic
Land-Tax being doubled, to the EfJcdl which additional Duties
and the Abfence of large Fleets and Armies may have had on the
Confumption of Malt, and to the Intereft paid to the Bank,
on large Sums and at an high Rate for the Loans on both. As
therefore Deficiencies of Grants alwavs come properly under the
Denomination of Debt, and as far the greater Part of thcfe pe-
culiarly belong to it, I (hall reckon all that have been provided
for fince the Peace on this Head as Debt difcharged ; foi:
which Purpofe 129,489/. os. 3^/. was granted in 1764, and
249,660/. 4 J. lo^.in 1765, amounting together to 379,149/. 5J. jj.
The Deficiencies of Funds within the fame Period were
384,854/. 31. bd.r viz. 147,593/. i8j. od. f provided for in 1764,
and 237,260/. 5j. 6d. in 1765. Thcfe Deficiencies are of Funds
created for the Purpofes of the War ; they are therefore di-
reftly a Debt of the War : To difpute their being fo, becaufe
they arife every Year, is only proving that the War has left
fuch an annual Charge upon the Publick : It is flridly fpeak •
ing the Intereft of a Sum unfunded fo far as the Fund upon
which it was charged is deficient ; and it is a Charge which
though it may vary, will to a Degree long continue.
The Exchequer Bills are the only large ur>funded Debt which
has not been taken Notice of, amounting to 1,800,000/. No
Part of them has bpen paid ofif ; they have only been continued;
but the Intereft upon them lias been reduced from four to three
percent. The Bank on the Renewal of their Charter in 1764,
engaged to circulate for two Years 1,000,000/. at three per
cent, per annum. The regaining 800,000/. have been already r
mentioned to be ifTuedat the fame Rate in 1765; and ^-"v have >
generally been above par. -
There were befides three little Debts paid off withinithe two.
Years I am confidering, which do not belong to any of th«
foregoing Articles. 7^opoA was granted in the Supplies for 1764 •
.; .. ' D 2 t<}
\n
X
[ 22 ]
to. rcimburl^ Mr. Totichit his Expc ices in the Outfit and Lofs of
Vefl'els furni(hcd by him for the Expedition •.ig.iinfl: Senegal,
Another 7000/. was granted in the Supphcs tor 1765 upon ac-
count of fundry Expcnces incurred in Nov.i Scotu, lome of
thcnj previous to the War, and others during its Continuance.
The Sum of 10,000/. was alfo granted to the (Jovernmentof the
liland of Barbadoes, in compcnfation for the AlHftance given*"
by them in the lixpedition againft il/^/r/Zwio. •'-■ •' '
Tile feveral Articles of the unfunded n.!?t- having been now
llated, the Account of that Debt outftan lin;';, paid off, or pro-
vided for m the V«ars 1764 and 1765 appears to be as fol-
lows : . -Jid *■>•.:(! ttn? 'I?
J, ■ 4
»••'. ; J /■•>».. HI > UnfunJeJDclit.
/. , d.
SubrfJytotheDukeofJ?f«»»/? ,^,..
Heafoiuble. Succour to the '^
Landgrave of Htjji.
Mifc«llaneous German' De
mandt.
Kavy Debt.
Army Extraordinaries.
Ordnance Extraordinaries.
Deficiencies of Grants.
Deficiencies of Fundi
•,•♦"
m in) J '.I y!
.j:>
o o
Exchequer Bills. ^
Mr. Teuchit. ■
Nova Scotia Debt
Barbadott Debt
1.1 •'■: ':>{,..
ml
J C
? IJOOOO
1 1 106043 >3 H
45769»5 7 9
'39'93« 3 oj
107878 18 8
, 3>9'49 5 I
384854 3 6i
' 1800000 o o
7000 O- O
r,ii I off in
1 764. and 1 765
J
I.
54245
d.
o Sh
lOOOCO o
100:000 o o
Provided 1)1
in iV^ij.
O C
3 0-J
65COCO
1391931
107878 18 8
3^9'49. 5 i
384854 36
.. . 7000
9975017 12 2ii
Deficiencies of ■ Ijand and Malt 600000
for two Years
9 o
7000
7C0O
1 0000
o o
O
o o
4092058 10 9 I,
600000 o o
1500CO0
Remaining in
176J.
/. /. d..
50000 o c-
106043 13 8 J,
2426915 7 9
180C006
':L .. I
o o
1500000 4382959 . 1
si'
The Unfunded' Debt remaining at the end of the Scffions-
1765, though the Sum was ftill large, was yet fo circuniftanced
that the Burden of it was not very heavy j as a great Part of it
did->not>bear Intereft,. and above half of it was-not immediately
payable : A large Proportion of the Navy Debt muft always be
in thefc Circumftances': The 50,000/. to the Landgrave of
He^e was not yet due : The mifcellaneous German Demands un-
provided, for were not liquidated : The Million Exchequer Bills
tak:n
m
«
•ou«D a a
•f
*■'
► /•
L
if-
)
■
'■
».■,
/
'..
• f
j:»
1
L.
i^-
t =3 J
taken by the Bank could not be claimed till the Expiration of the
Term lor which they had agreed to circulate them : The re-
maining 800,000/. were ifliied at i\\Ttc per cent, and certainly were
not an Incumbrance, for they generally bore a Premium : Of
the Navy Debt which was payable and not provided fo;-, no
more than 471,589/. jj. 8</. Bills were in courfe of Payment
when the Account was made up ; they too were about par, and
therefore not a Load upon the Market ; nor was poflponing the
Difchargeof them a Ilardfliipon the Proprietors who might fell
tJiCm at par : and at tiie fame Time that the Debt was brought
into fuch a favourable Situation, the Ways and Means of the
Year were found to exceed the Supplies about 870,000/. To
have applied Part of that Sum to any Purpofe which would
have mad'i the Remainder ufelefs for Purpofes of equal Irnpor-
tunce, would have been wafting it j and there was not 1) much>
of the Unfunded Debt adUially bearing four per cent. Iritereft; :
That the Public therefore might avail itft-lf of the whole Suip,
it was necelfary to difchargc therewith a Part of the Funded
Debt : The Navy Annuities hid in 1763 upon the Sinking Fund
were undoubtedly the firft: Objed: j 2^ per cent, upon them was
very nearly the Sum : The Navy Bills not included in the Sub-
fcription amounted to much Icfs, and yet to fo much, that had
they been provided for out of this Surplus, no Part of the Navy
Annuities could have been difcharged,. as lefs than 500,000/.
may not be paid off at any time, and 500,000/. weald not have
been left ; but exclufive of this Confideration, even fuppoilng
that the Whole of the one had been exadly the fame Sum as 25
percent, upon the other, it would ftill have been right to have
preferred the- Annuitants : The Provifion made for them on the
Sinking Fund was always intended to be but temporary ; they
accepted it in the Expedhation of being paid off as foon as the
Opportunity {hould offer; they had Merit with the. Public in
fubfcribing, and were therefore entitled to favour : With refpedt
to the Public, it was more important to make a Beginning, in the
Redudtion of the Funded Debt, which is exceflive, than to
take a Quantity of Paper Circulation out of the Market, which ■■
could hardly be faid to be, overloaded with it ; and the Stocks
mufl"
T 24 ]
vmaft Tae more fenfible of a ReJudion of Debt made ifl a
!Mode which proved that Order was reftored to the Finances,
than to any further Diminition of the Unfunded Debt which
Avould not have carried with it fuch a Demonftration. For thefc
Reafons 870,888/. 5^. 5^.f were voted in the Supplies for 1765,
for paying oiF a fourth of the Navy Annuities, and this Sunt
being added to the former, the whole Account of Debt funded
i id unfunded which was difcharged or provided for in the Years
T764 and 1765^ excluiive of the Land aiid Malt Deficiencies
itands thus : r. , .
lU kj::
/.
s. J.
Unfunded Debt paid off
Funded Debt paid off
- 4,092,058 10 Pt-V
870,888 5 5f
:»-'i- ■'s't
.f— -V Total Debt paid off 4,962,94616211
tJnfunded Debt provided for - - 1,500,000
» ^ I,
;;• Total Debt paid off and provided for 6,402,946 16 2, 1
But this great Difcharge of Debt was not accomplished at the
Expence of the Peace EftaHifliment : On the contrary, That
iwas kept up higher than it ever had been before ; the Extent
•of our Dominions, the Encreafe of our Power, the Refent-
inent of oar Enemies, . xd the Jealoufies of our Neighbours
require it : The Peace would indeed be ftiort and hollow if it
were followed by fuch an Avowal of Weaknefs, as reducing
the Army below the Numbers neceffary for prefervkig our Con-
- Quefts, and rifking upon any fudden Emergency our Superiority
-ac Sea, forwint of a conftant Provifion to maintain.it. The
• Evils of the War are not to remedied by giving vu) the Advan-
tages obtained by it j and whatever tbe Diftrefs or our Financed
-inight be, it was not to be recovered by Means unworthy of the
^Dignity, aiid dangerous to the Safety of thefe Kingdomi : The
^ Peace Eftablifhment was therefore formed on a much larger
' Plan than after the former War : It has been enlarged (I think
Amncceffarily) this Year; but on the other Hand, many of the pre-
sent Ejcpences are meerly occaiio^alf and others are only the tem«
• •'■• porary
Ptt-
■9 ' '
C 25 I
eftrary tlemalns of the War which will gradually diminilli : I will
not, however, incumber the Account I mean now to give
of the Sums granted in 1764 and 1765, with Calculations of
the Redudtions which majr be expeded, nor confound the Eila-
felifhment of that Time with the prcfent : But I will firll com-
pleat a State of the Supply for thofe two Years ; I will next go-
through the Ways and Means by which it was railed ; and then,
deducing from each the Articles which only accidentally oc-
curred, and allowing for thofe which muft either cncreafe or
decline, I will endeavour upon a Review of the Whole, to
form fome Eftimate of the annual Expence to be born upon the
Plan then formed, and of tlie Abilities of this Counfy to bear
it : The fubfequent Alterations may by this Means be more
clearly feen and confidered.
The Money voted for Naval Services exclufive of tlie Navy
Debt was as follows :
.IV.,?.
<r
In the Suppliss
for 1764.
/. S. d.
j6ooo Men inclnding 42'}J7 Marines 852,000
Ordinary of the Navy 398568 11 9
Greenwich Hofpital 10000
Buildings and Repairs of the Navy 200000
Sea Chaplains |, 1Z31 176
Officers Houfes at Plymouth 3000
, For building a Lazaret ■
Total 1444800 9 3
In the Supplies
for 1765.
/. S. d,
832000
407734 II 3.
50G0
200000
12;
176
5000
1 4509^6 8 9
This Expence is about ^oooool. per aun. more than the Na-
val Services (exclufive of Debt incurred) on an Average of
feven Year? during the laft Peace amounted to, and higher by
almoft 3^00,000/. than the ftigheft of thofe Years. We have
learned by fatal Experience that loooo Seamen were not a fuffi-
cient Preparative for War in Times of perfedt Tranquillity ; for
the Lofles fuftained at the breaking out of the laft were chiefly
owing to the Want of Hands, which could not be procured fo
foon as the Occafion required, by the moft vigorous Prefs, and
ihe nkoft liberal Bounties ; not that in order to provide againft
the
■ I IIMIIII W»l|l|
■■H
'ft
'-iil
. [ 26 1
t\he fike'Diftrefs, a cuir.brous Body of idle Seamen (hould be
conftantly kept in pay : Sailors unemployed foon lofe their
-Hardinefs and Adlivity j but Bufinefs may be eafily found for
•fuch a Number as 16,000 in the Duty of their refpedtive Sta-
•tions, and in the Prevention of that dandeftine Trade, which
*is equally baneful both to the Commerce and the Revenue of
jthefe Kingdoms : The making them ferve on board the Smug-
gling Cutters, at the fame Time preferves tLe Vigour of our
" Naval Force, and improves the Means of fupporting it : if thele
' Cruifers were laid afide, feme other Service muft be devifcd to
take the Men out of Guard-Ships and Harbours, to exercife,
and to feafon them : If no Men could be fpared for this,
.fome other Provifions muft be made to check the Preva-
lence cf Pradlices fo prejudicial to the Manufadurers and the
<Fair Traders, the moft valuable" Subjects in the Kingdom : And
if the Expence of both Services were divided into fcparate
>Branches, ^ believe it would in the Whole greatly exceed that
which is new incurred for them united. I fhall have Occafion
to mention thefe Cutters ag-^in with refpe(^t to the Benefit re-
fulting from them to the Revenue ; l here confider them only as
providing a proper Employment, and giving A6tivity to that
greater Number of Seamen which our Situation requires. The
ether Naval Services were encreafed in proportion to that Aug-
mentation ; the Ordinary of the Navy was above 100,000/.
higher than it ufed to be j and there never was fo much given
in any one Year, during the laft Peace, for Rebuildings and
Repairs, as was granted in each of thofe two Years fuccef-
iively.
•iif &.ir-i5sr avv^t'tt^^.
B )
'y
4il
'.-y-P'4i,
The
oatr;i 5
');■.
l/pDi-i
J'
\
kfw -j'^Kj '^i isml'r'LHiit A Hdrf ^ula? ; 1 H
;iog?v
Vh->
^az<i'^:l
•':5T
'vV
0/ rA)V) r/ n'ii Jc« : ?Siui/.<'>g
'?A
The
Hi
->.i Slit
W W i ^w ir trt ' I
itm*mwf»ct ■,„.mfaiimwwmm:i^m,r*fi*mni<tmr.%A,
( : •
■i-'-
'■%
.^>.-^.
*
.'■ I
•>
I '
-<.-r
( 27 1
I
The Sviw^Sj^!^^ ^^^ *^c Army come next under Confidera-
tion, whijcnifpxjii^''ive of the Extraordinaries and SybUdies .al-'
ready mentioned as Debts, were as follows :
JJ. I /f!
V .♦
Guards and Garrifoni* - •
Plantations, ■iT//«wf<r,j&c.
General and Staff Officers
Reduced Officers of the Land-forces 30188 18 I
Do. dilbanded and to be difbanded 125455 13
Horfe Guards reduced*
Chelfea Hofphal* fc- ^ , «»^ •
To make good thfe^Dehciency fqr the faid Hof 7
pitai in the Grants, ^(>3^(fmi^ti%i^'^ >
Penfioiu to Widows^" ^-
Difference between Iriji and Brit/Jh Pay, five ^ ,
Regiments. ' * * i4 i
Three Independant Companies ^)f Foot on the ? .. ■
In the Siippliei
for iffi*.
/• i.
617704 .7
372774 6
11322 7
155644 11,
2605 15
103794 2
18331
1696
J.
I0{
4j
17
II
\
In the Supplie*
for 1765-
/. /.
608130 10
387502 3
11291 8
it.
7.
135606 I 2
2361
109 107
i.Sv
6jj
6
H
18
1
4
^2'
J'4TetJl 12838771?
16641
6346
if 4»
126850^^ 8 loS
This Eftablifliment ex53^, 'that maintained during' the lafl:
Peace almoft 300000/. ^?rl»««;»b^t'th^Excef8 is not in the
Army at Home, which^i^s jrather lower Ijoth in Numbers and
Expence than it ufed to be : The Garrifons of Gibraltar and
Minorca ha.\e been reduced from 3260 to 2 116 Men on the
Britifli Eftablifhment, the Difference being made up by IriJIi
Regiments ; in confequence of which Arrangement between
30000 and 40000/. is ajinually faved to Great Britain : But the
Encreafe in the Plantations is in Numbers from 3755 Men to
1 0009, and in Expence upon'this Account only from between
80,000 and 90,000/. to^bov? 275,000/. ^rtf««. The Half-
pay and C/^<?i^tf Hofpital .are each of them more than double
what they were at tne*Conclufidh of the preceding War; and
in thefe three Articles principally ^he*Difference between the
two Periods confifts. |L •
A great Part of theT&/««7<:^/^Arniy"'is ftationed in the new
Acquifitions : Some of \hefe Provinces are Frontiers : the Alle-
giance of the Inhabitants cannot be relied on; and the Security
E of
\ 1
/ 1
i \
f i 1 \ .
if *
«
, t
f .
( 28 ]
of the old Colonies and the Advantages obta'ncd by the Peace
depend upon pfeferving thefe in Safety and S.-bjcdtion : An
Encreafe alfo in the Expence of the Ordnance is on the (ame
Foundation equallj^ necelTary : For many new Fortifications muft
be ere(5ted, and additional Garrifons muft be maintained in
the feveral ceded Countries. The Charge of the Ordnance in
1764 and 1765 \vas» principally on account of Americat great-
er than during the laft Peace by about 60,000/. per ann. and
exclufive of Extraordinaries incurred and not provided for,
was,
/. s. d.
-1 173,080 8 6
Charge of the Ordnance for 1764.
Ditto for 1765^ .
1 . • V •'. t
• I
■ Bef^des the Supplies for the Navy, the Army and the Ord-
nance, which though they difFejrin amdunt at different Periods,
are ftill ordinary Chargco ^f a!" Times\: ''thci -have been feveral
Sums granted tor various Plurpofcs> * in- of which were only
occafional,' fome are temporary, und feme will probably be per-
manent : I fliall poftpone the diftinguifliing of them in thefe
Refpeds till I make an Eftimate of the Peace Eftablifhment ;
and at prefent will only divide them according to the Years in
which they were refpedlively voted.
I' /
•U-
i\>yi f. ■;' I
■yJi
\-' -^'.'f ^^
1 /'ii.
' ■ Mifcel-
II :• •;/■
.' f1
'1- ' ....
■' , ".•; \. V >,j -•: L / 'jii (1; .*: •;!!,: -1 1.-.; , ;■ ■ ;
.i^.iii . ?:):i';') ' ont
I,; : •■ ■ > ' v.- - .' :: ,'. -Lil' . - i/ - • ' '■>' .. ' )!\
, . A '■ <• t . ..' - _■ ^;« -
■l-^
r S9 ]
Mlfcellaneous Articles.
Pay and Cloathing of the Militia
Marriage Portion of the Princefs of «
Brunfwick . - \
Paving the Streets
Land Carriage Fifli
Britijli Mufeum
To replace Payments out of the «
Civil Lift J
For Nova Seotia
Georgia
Eaft Florida
Weft Florida
General Surveys of America
Purchafe Money,. Gff. of Lands in I
Kent^ Sujfexy &c. *
Intereft of ditto
For the African Committee ' ' *
Fo"- -the Civil Eftablifhment on the 7
Coaft of Africa ,S
For building a Blockhoufe nearCape ■%
Appolonia S
For the Foundling Hofpital
Z,(i»ii?n Bridge J '■'■
!::.,; Total
^v.i-
80000
80000
1 0000
^500
2000
135°
5:'°3
4031
5700
5700
1818
In 17^4
14 II
8 8
9
545 »5
lOj
20000
13 9*
In 1765;
/. s.
d.
80000
—
240a
>• i
V .
491 1
3966
14
IC
5200
.1 "
v'
5200
1691
I*
1
• ^r»-,-i •
38347 10
13000
5500
f
7000
38000
7000
\ 1(
■(>.>
263800 n 4i \173779 8 li
■fhefe Sums compleat the Account of the Supplies voted ia
the Years 1764 and J 765, excepting the Exchequer Bills, which
were 1,800,000/. in 1764, and 800,000/. in 1765, there being
no Occafion in the latter Year to provide for the Bank Million.
They mult be added both to the Supply and the Ways and
Means, in order to conform to the Method of voting publick
Money, and to explain the Tranfadlion concerning them,
ithough the Effetfl is in Reality no more than continuing a Debt
incurred before. Including theretuie theie, and recapitulating the
Several Totals which have been ftated, the whole Supply for the
Period now under Confidcration ftands thus : , j ,- .
E 2 .:..'.'.:;: Debt
.1/
■ i.\t:: ji,')-:
( 3* ]
Sf' i1
l^ebt paid off and provided for -
Navy in 1764
Ditto in 176 c ' -
Army in 1704
Ditto in 1765 -
Ordancc m 1764
Ditto in 1765
Mifcellaneous Articles in 1764 -
Ditto in 176^
Exchequer Bills in 1764 •
Ditto in 1765
Deficiencies of Land and Malt for
r. fi
^
' ■ ■ • '
6462946 16
«4l
-
1444800 9
3
-
1450966 8
9
m
1283873 17
5I'
-
1268502 8
I of
-
173080 8
6
'-
'7467J 15
10
-
263800 1 1
4i
-
»73779 8
11
M
I 80000a
.
>
800000 j;
two Years 6O0000 •'■
: l:ii.
Total
15896424 5
T ■'*
It is impofBble tc look upon this Account and not fo acknow-
ledge, that if on the one Hand, the Debt which iiill remained;
the oth6r Confcquences of the War which will be felt for fome
Years, and thy great Peace Eftablifhment which muft be con-
ftantly fuprofted, were melancholy Conltderations j yet on the
other, fucfi a Supply, approaching to fixteen Millions, raifed
within two Years, with tne Afliftance of but one Loan, and
that for no more than 1 500000/. was Matter of Confblation :
Not that this could have been efFefted by Means of the ordinary
Revenue only j feveral grofs Sums were brought in addition to
it ; but even that Refource is not exhaufted, and the annual
Income of this Country is in an improving Situation ; as I fhall
endeavour to fl>cw after having ftated the Ways and Means by
which fuch a Supply was raifed. " ;
The largeft of the grofs Sums was his Majefty's Bounty to
his People, in applying to the public Service the Produce of
the Frenc/i Prizes taken before the War ; it was computed at
700000/. in 1764, at which Time 661,058/. is. id. appeared
to have been adually received; and Accounts of 62,700/. §s. gj,
more raifed by the Sale had been delivered into the Office : But
fome Difputes concerning this latter Sum having occafioned a
Delay
•«i«;.(a>««.*j»»^«««je«iss3;;:^,,
lUP"
M
'TT
lelay
t 3' I
Delay in the Payment of it, fo much as was wanting to com^"
pleat the 700,000/. is included in the Deficiency of Grants,, and
the Money not paid in 1764, but expedted in 1 76 c, and reckon-
ed at 62,500/. was applied to the Services of the latter Year.-
The Deficiency which thus arofe being comprehended in the
Supplies above flated, I muft fet down the whole Sum of
762,500/. in the Ways andM^ans in order to ballance the Ac-
count.
TheJlenewal of the Charter of the Bank afforded an Oppor-
tunity for raifing another Sum of 1 10,000/. though fuch Oppor-
tunities had not been improved in the fame Manner before, the
Bank having never paid any Confideration for the Prolongation
of their Term, and the Continuance of their Privileges, Their
original' Charter in 1694 was granted on their lending to the
Government the Money fubfcribed into their Capital, amount*
ingto 1,200,000/. at eight per cent, the common Rate of Inte-
rell at that Time, which Intereft with an Allowance of 4000/i
for Management, amounted to 100,000/. ^^r tfn«. Their Term
was enlarged in 1696, in order to advance their Credit, which
was then very low ; at the fame Time, and for the fame Rea-
fon their moft valuable Privilege, that of exclufive Banking as^
a Corporationi firft took its rife y and it was carried to the Ex-
tent at which it has fince remained, in 1707, when the Re-
newal of the Charter was not immediately in Contemplation ;
No Propofition for that Purpofe was made till a Year afterwards,
and then the common Rate of Intereft on Government Security
being fix per cent, that Rate was fixed upon all the Money
which the Bank was at the Time in Advance. The Exchequer.
Bills which they had undertaken to circulate at 4/. 10s. per cent.
two Years before, were raifed to it; and their Capital was re-
duced to it : But being willing to keep the Whole of their An-
nuity, they added 400,000/. to their original Capital, the Intew
reft of which at fix per cent, amounted to the Saving of two
per cent^ upon the i , 200,000/. and en exadly the fame Principle,
when the Charter was again renewed in 1742, at which Time
the common Rate of Intereft on Government Security was but.
three per cent, they agreed to take no more on their Capital, but
then
(\
1 . '
» ! f •
If ^
'4'
i ■'■1
I
I 32 1 .
•then they added 1,600,000/. to that Capital, in order to preferve
their Annuity. As to Exchequer Bills, their Undertakings to
circulate them are not peculiar to the Times of renewing the
Charter : They are cummon to all Times ; and the higheft
Price they ever required for this Service was on extending their
Term in 1713. vnthout any other Condition annexed to the
Piolongation: Particular Circumllances made it expedient then
X) comply with the Demand ; and in Ihort the Circumllances of
the Times will always influence evei-y Money Tranfa^ion : Go-
vernment will never give a high Intereft, when it can borrow
at a lower : Redeenaable "urns will therefore be always paid
off or reduced, whenever the Rate of Intereft falls ; thofe
which the Bank has advanced from Time to Time have been
thus reduced as Occafions havp offered ; and the greatefl Re-
duction ever made on their Funds was in 1717, when no Re-
,newal of their Charter was in Contemplation j hut their ori-
ginal Capital and the Additions which have been made to it, are
irredceroabje during the Continuance of their Term j and this
is the rejil and the only Reafon that no Redudtion thereon has
,«vcr,tai:en plac&, except when the Expiration of their Term
ovas in yiew j and then the Ban:k have conllantly chofen to ad-
ivance ^ Sum of Money, not as a Confideraticn for the Renewd
,ef itheir JClharter, but in order only to have the fame Annuity
/continued to them. In 1764 there was no room for fuch an
Operation ; the Interell of Money was rifen fincc 1742. The
Stocks were at a mijch greater Difcount ; and the public Credit
and Finances were in every ref^edl in a far worfe Situation ;
yet the Puhlick availed itfelf more of this than it ever had of
any former Tranfaftion of the fame Kind : Indeed there is not
an Jnftancc of any State at any Time receiving fuch Affiftance
from a Corporation, as this Country received from the Bank,
•within little more than a twelve-month : Credit both publick
and private owes its Exiftence in a great Meafure to tneir Ef-
forts <upon the Event of the Bankruptcies abroad ; were the
Whole of that Affair examined in all its Circumftances, the
iGreatncfs of the Occafion, the Imminence of the Danger, the
jE.xtentof the Pe^and^ the Readinefs of the Supply, and the-
Rapidity
%
. ■\*'-^^
"^A
'^V'!
I
[ 33 ]
Rapidity of the Proceeding ; the Powers wliich were called
forth, and the Spirit, the Stcadincls, and the Wil'dom with
which they were dired>ed -, the Completion of the Succcfs, niul
the Importnnce of the Confcqutnce:-, all conlidcreJ together,
this muil appear the mod tnonicntous and mod iliuib'ious Mo-
ney Opi'ration that Europe ever was Witnefs to : I he Bank
hardly recovered from the Agitation, the Convuifion of fo vio-
lent a Struggle, entered into a Treaty for tJie Renewal of their
Charter : At that Time the Unfunded Debt was large, the In-
tereft paid upon it was heavy, and the Rate of it high j and the
Quantity oi Paper Circulation had depreciated the Value of the
beft : Each of thefe Circumftances of Oppreflion upon Credit,
the Conditions of the Renewal tended to alleviate j for on the
Prolongation of their Term for twenty-one Years, the IJank
agreed, not meerly to lend a Sum of Money at the ufual Rate
of Intereft irredeemable, which was all that had been done
before ; but abfolutely to pay 110,000/. to be difpofed of by
Parliament, without Allowan;ce for Intereft, or Repayment of
Principal: They alfo undertook to. advance 1,000,000/. upon
Exchequer Bills at only three per cent, and not demantlable iiv
two Years, though Exchequer Bills bearing four per ci'tit. Inte-
reft were at a Dilcount : They afterwards took the Lead in the
further Reduction of Intereft upon Loans to the Government, by
bringing down to thr^e per cent, the fecond- Millbn upon the
Land -Tax ; and in the Midft of all thefe Dilburfements and-
Defalcations, they proved their Ability, and'raifed their owni
and the public Credit, by declaring an Advance of Half /it'r cent.
upon their Dividends, A bare Enumeration of ilicle Fadts,,
lliews at. the fame Time their Zeal for the public Service, and
the Extent of their Powers, the Weight, of their Influence, and.
the Prudence of their Management.
The SuD\ paid by the Bank, confiderable as it is, is ftill the
leaft of the grofs Sums of which the Public availed itfelf, du-
ring the fame Adminiftration. The Army Savings greatly ex-
ceed it J for of thefe 163,558/. 3i:. 3^/.tt were applied in the
Ways and Means for 1764, and 251,740/. 2j. 7^/4 in thofe of ,
1765, amounting together to 415,298/. 51. '1 w/.^l, and confift- •
E 4 ing
..■•ti'r^'.r**..*,*^^.
i '
d } V
I
' i
!ii
[ 34 r
ing of a Variety of Articles, fuch as Money voted hut not all
expended, the Produce arifing from the Sale of Stores, Iiallaiicc« f
due liom thofc to whom too nuich had been illucd, and other •
Sums produced from the Settlement of Accounts ; but there •
was another Saving whicli was laid before I'arlianicnt feparatcly :
from the reft, and which could not be recovered but by a long r
and minute rctrofpcdlive Examination of the State of all the :
Regiments in the Service, as to the Deficiencies of PTlicdHves iij [
each } it was however undertaken, and by the Diligence
and Accuracy with which it was made, a further Sum of-
170,906/. 2s, Sd. was produced on the uon cit'cdlive Accounts •
in the Ways and Means for 1764. . :L . in ... i
In 1765, the Compofition with i''rance for the Subfiilance •
of Prifoners was laid before Parliament ; the H>{pcnces incur-
red on the Account of thofe taken at Sea amounted to i, 174,905/. ;
but by the exprefs Stipulation of the Treaty, Payment could
be claimed only of the Advances for Subfiflance and Mainte--
nance : Other Diflburfements for providing Accommodations, .
for repairing IVifons, foi- the Pay of Guards, Allowances to
Agents, Chaises of Otiice, and a Number of di^erent Contin-
gencieSf which were all included in the above-mentioned Sum,
and amounted to more than 1 20,000/. could on no Pretence be
charged ; and then the Crown of France had a Counter-demand
on account of Eng^ijh Prifoners, not far fhort of 1 1 0,000/. even
after a like Defalcation for Extraordinaries. Thefe Deductions
being made, the Remainder was indeed for the Subftdance and
Maintenance of Prifoni-r; ; but amongft them were many Wo-
men, Merchants, PalTciigcrs, and others, fome of whom cer-
tainly were not, and oi fome it was doubtful whether they were
•to be deemed, Prifoners of War : Of thofe who indifputably
were fo, feveral had been carried into diflant Ports, and dif-
pcrfed through every Part of the Britijh Dominions j and yet
Eviderjce muft have been given of the Day when the Subfift-
arKie of every Individual commenced, and when it determined,
by Death, Efcape, Exchange, or Releafe : The Materials re-
quired by the Treaty to fupport which Charge are Receipts, at-
tefted Ax:count8, and other authentic Titles, and theie mufl i
have
w- •--- ^ V
-<
)'
i
I
i: 35
J
have bedrt' trdi'ifmit'tcd from hll Quarters of tlic , Globe, and
would oft6rt have been irregular, indiftindl, and dcfc6livc. To
attempt only to liquidate ludi iin Account foenicu to be loflng
time : To accomplifh It appeared imporfible : and in the Tro-
grefs of it fome Errors and Frauds would have been dctedcd,
fcvcral Queftions would have arilVn, many Vouchers would
have been Wanting, and great Abaterhcnts rnuft have been al-
lowed : To prevent therefore an endlefs Expente, Diijpute, and
Delay, it was propofed to pay a grofs Sum in full of all thefe
Demands j and after a long Negotiation, 670,000/. was at lart:
allowed to be, as nearly as could be cailculated, the juft amount
of them. The Accounts however of the Prifoners in the Ea/I-
Indies not havitig been delivered ih, and thole in Germany being
upon a different Footmg, Were neither of them included, but
left to be adjufted hereafter ; and in the mean while the Sum
above-mentioned Was accepted for the reft, payable by Inftal-
ments, viz. 308,000/. in 1765, and the Remainder by quarterly
Payments in the two fubfequent Years. This 308,000/. was
taken as pa't of chr Ways and Means for 1765, and being ad-
ded to thofe which have been mcrttioried, the iJtate cf the grofs
Sums applied to the public Service in the Ways and Means for
the Period now before us, is as follows :
* Produce of French Prize's takeii befofr) ^,
the War j 762,500
On the Renewal of the Bank-Charter 1 10,000
Army Savings ' - -; "-, ;' * "'•:).'4i 5,298 5 ii-J^,
Savings on the non-efSsdtive Accounts i7o,"9o6 z h
Part of the Corhpofition for the l^r^ch Vx\~\ q ^
foners l:o8,ooo
I'di .-.; -
■•'■■'■ 1,766,704 8 7^^
'J
L...rp.
r(
'V \\\\
A
Thefe
* At I am now malcing up an Account of the Ways and Mea/ia, the^ .I'bn
has been already given for putting the Frtnch Prizes at the Sum at wbicb thej wer*
1 com-
i
i\k
[36 3
}\
f;
nary jFtevenuCi iucl^ !jis the Excheqi
of^ i,8ob,oob/. in "1764, and of 800,000/. in 1765^ concerning
•whkh there is no occafion here to make any Addition to what
has been faid aheady. ^The Militia Money which in t)ic Ways
and Means for ,1764 was' ij\:,ooo/. and in thofe of .f765 w^s
3o,ooo/. ai^d which is iij reality no nicrq thjiji a Matter of Ac-
coufitj: Money being appropriated for that SerViqc every Vear,
a^d the Receivers of the Land-Tax beip^ alfo every Year di-
refted to pay the Expence in their relaeftive Counties j by
which Means the Deficiency of the Land J^^axi is encre^fed, and
the appropriated Money remains unapp)[ied : ,71^'e^^'yyas aUb
another frnall Sum brQught to account , in- 1 7-^4,^ as jhe Surpl^i^s
of the additional Beer Duty of .1761,' befcr? it was carried to
the Sinking Fund, amounting oi-ily to 3497/.. 9^. 9«^'ri f, ,.^1
The ordinary Revenues are firft the annuial L^nd anp Malt»
which I muft let down each Year at 2,750,006/ fot which they
were given, as the TDeficiency is carried tp acco^unt in the Supply^
Then the -^wfr)rW« kevenues, and the, Duty upon Gum Senega»
both of which I fhall'confider more at la.rgs: hereafter^ and here
only meiition theai as given in the Ways and Means for 176^,
the former for 6o,ooo/.and the latter for liz.ooo/. p'^dT laftlv the
Sinking Fund,, which was given in 1764 for 2,000,000/. and
which after all the, Aiarr» which had been. xufcd of. it/> falling
fhort by above 400,000/. did adlually produce 135,213/. ^s. 0(J.-^
■ more than it was.given for : and inftead of 220,000/. which it
was 0id was all, that would be applicable out of the pub\i,c>k
Revenue of th^ Year towards the pitehajrgp of _the Debt;
1,254,682/. 2s. 6/.^ was in fait applied- cmt. o£ the Sinking
Fund for 'th&t Piifpofe, in addition to what was paid off . by
muans of tht gcofs Sums then brought to account. The Sur-
plus was moreover exclufive of 67,821/. gs. id.^ applied to
jfomputed, rather t^isn at that which they a£lually produced : The Deficiency muft
f not be added to the Supply of one Year, and deduced from the Ways and Means
of the pieceding : But in fiSt the real Produce appears upon the. Account to, be no
nisrethiin 723^7 58/. 'it, lod. and that is not all received. ,
make
•■i'^M
-^ \\:
[ 37 3
make good fo miicli a« the Sinking Fund of 1763 b'ad fallen
(hort.of the 2,000,000/. for which it was given; but though this
Sum be thus taken out of the difpofable Money, yet having been
fupplied by the Sinking Fund of 1764, it is equally a Part of
itsProduce with the 2,000,000/. and the 135,213/. ^s, od ^ ; and
thefe three Sums bemg added together, the real amount of the
Revenue arifen by the Sinking Fund between 10th O^cier 1763,
and loth O&nher ij6^, after having paid all the Charges upon
it, whether permanent, temporary, or occafioned by its being a
collateral Security, which were incurred durini^ the fame Period,
was 2,203,034/. 14J. id^. The Overplus of 1 3 5^ 2 1 3/. 5/. o^/.f
which remained for the Difpofation of Parliain.ent wis applied
in the Ways and Means for 1765, and on the Encouragement
given by fo large a Produce, upon which there v.as a Profpedt
of a further Encreafe in confequence of the Regulations made
for improving the Revenue, the Sinking Fund was alfo taken
for 2,100,000/ *. But though there was little room to doubt of
F 2 its
* The Sinking Fund being made up in Oilober hid an accidental Advantage in
1765, by ihe Beer Duty having been caYried to it at Chri/fmas, 1764, as thereby
three Quartets Produc of that Duty were received, while but Half a Year'«
Charge upon it was horn, the Annuities being payable at Mitifummtr and Chfijl~
mas : The Quarterly Payment of tholl- Annuities being 124,000/. fo much muft
be allowed out of the aiSlual Produce of the Sinking F'unJ in 17$5, when confi*
deied as the MeaCure of the Produce to beexpefled in fubfequent Years : But even
after dedufiing 124,000/. fro'r 2,203,000/. the Remainder falls fo little fliort of
ajioojoo-^/. that it is hardly worth mentioning, and the improving State of the
Sinking Fund was more than a Baliance againft 21.000/. which was all that even
en this Calculation would be wanting. Nor was the Surplus upon the Confidence
ai which fo much was taken collufive, on account of a Deficiency to be expedled
in the Chrijimas Quarter : Such a Deficiency was not peculiar to that Year, and if
the Account were fallacious then, every other which has been made up for fome
YeTB has been fo too ; but the Fa<5l is no more than this : The lad Baliance of
the Jiinking Furd being always ftruck on loth Offober, the Chrijimas Quarter
thereby becomes i he firft Quarter of the Yearly Account i and uCed to be always
deficient : That ti.erefore the AnniHtants charged upon it might not be difappoint-
ed, a Sum was corftantiv referved fuffivi^nt to anfwer their Demands; but that
Sum was only borrowd for a (hoit Time, and was re;;ularly repaid to the Sinkin*
Fund of the preceding; Year. Agrreably to this Fiai^ice, when the Account for
1763
I) )
■ [ 38 I
its aftualfy producing; more, yet it was not fuppcfed that the dif^
pofeable Money on the enfuing loth October would be fo much,
becaufe the Purchafe Money of the JJle of Man which was
70,000/. being Payable out of the. Cuftoms,. fell up' . the Sinlc^
ing Fund; and another occafional Burthen of 205,24.6/. 5/. was
alio Hd immediately upon it, by Means of the Ad pafled in
I76<; for remedying the Inconveniencies which were occafioned
by the Cnrjima Quarter of the Sinking. Fund being always de-
ficient: As the Deficiency arofe from the Charge upon th^
Quarter exceeding the Produce,, that Charge was reduced by
altering the Pay-days of the four percent. oonfoHdated Annui^-
ties from 5th JarMiry. and 5th July, to the 5th April and loth
GBoher, by which Regulation the Chrijlmas Quarter is -cUeved
from a Burthen of 410,492/. loj. which it was r / * n : I to»
and that Burthen is transferred to a Quarter which it will not
opprefs : The former Perplexity is avoided j the Danger of not
referving fufficient to make good a Deficiency, which depending
on a cafual Produce could never be previoufly afcertained ex-
adlly, is prevented; the Ifil'-; of the public Money is more
equally diftributed to the feveral Parts of the Year j and' the
Inconveniencies arifing from the Books of the Bank being kept
fo much longer fhut at the Cbrijtmas and Midfummer Quartci^
i>. i,'.-j
1763 was made up en loth Osiohet that Year,- tlie ufu.\l Deficiency was forefeen,
and Provifion was made accordingly ; not by a Deduction from that Account, but
bv retaining unifTued fome Part of tl>e Money therein fet down as difpofeable Sur-
plus, and which was applicable fina ly to the Service* of that Year. The Sum
wanting on 5th Januaty 1764 was 128.684/. 17J. 8^ J which was then furnifliw"
out of this referved Money: Pat it was replaced out rf the Pro'uce of the foilowii>|f
jfpril Quarter in 1764, an>J paid in to the Account of the Sipping. Fund 'oi
1763, in difcharge of the lemporary Loan out of its Produce, and not liice tlw
67,821/. 0^' l^'* which wr.s an atSlual Deficiencv of that Produce-, fo that the
Sinking Fund of 1764 in the End fupplicd the Deficiency of its own Chrijlmas
Qi>arter, and the Surplus of it arofe after &1I the Charges of four Quarters from
joth Oflof>er, 1763 to 10th O^ober, 1764 had been born : It would be aflnguiar
Objedtion to a Yearly Account, th<.t it did not include five Quarters ; and yet the
Fallacy imputed to this Surplus was, that Part .of the Charge of a fifth Quarter
was not laid upon it; but all the Difficulties which attended this neceflary Ma-
nagement arc now removed by the AQ. referred to in the Text above.
thon
I
V t
but
1 39 ]
tlian at the othots, are taken away : In order to accompllfli the*
Alteration without Prejudice to the Parties concerned,, the A<5b
diredled that one Quarterly Payment fliould be advanced in
06lokr 1765, and that afterwards the Half-yearly Payment
Ihould be made in CSlober and April j by which Means the
Sinking Fund of 1765 was charged with five Quarters of thefc
Annuities, viz, two on 5th 'January and two on 5th Julyy ac-
cording to the former Method of paying them, and one on loth
OSlober in order to introduce the new Regulation : Each Quar-
ter of thefe Annuities amounts to 205,246/. ^s. and both that
Sum and the 70,000/. given for the Purchafe of the IJle of Man
are accidental Charges on the Sinking Fund of 1765, which no
former Year has born, nor fubfequent Year will bear; and which
muft always be attended to in judging of the Surplus of that
Year : They were forefeen, and it was therefore declared that the
2,100,000/. would hardly be raifed before ChriUmas^ ^7^5 i but
as the Nav^y Annuities were not to be paid oft till then, the wait-
ing for the Produce of that Quarter to make up the Sum, could. .
be attended with no Inconvenience.
To the feveral Sums and Revenues which have been men-
tioned, the Loan of 1,500,000/. which was made in 1765, and
of which fufhcient has been faid already, muft be added, in or-
der to cort^ pleat the Ways and Means for the two laft Years^,
and then thi^ Account of them ftands thus :.
. i -
Groft
•• jfi
I .''i'
-; -^h?
itty a n^i t irtitt u tr, .....Ja...--^^-.
' n-^
h . ,
•[ 40 ]
Grofs Sums applied - - . i ;'[ 7
Exchequer Bills 1764 - - .' - -
Ditto 1765
Militia Money 1764 - -
Ditto 1765 - -
Surplus of Annuity Fund 176 1 - < ,
Land and Malt for two Years - r' ■'. ^ . .;
jf**»erican Revenues ^ - • . .. •
D. f r Gum Senega - i.
Sink.; "und 1 764 given for
Surplus of Sinking Fund 1764 above thel
2000000/. - <'■ ,
Sinking Fund 1765 given for
Annuities and Lottery in lieu of Navy Bills
/. s. d.
1766704 8 7^1
1800000
800000 ,
ICOOOO
80000
3497 9 9
55000C0
60000 V. ^
12000
2000000
135213 5 cf
2100000
1500000
. I ,.
■ , - Total 1 590741 J 3 4tV
The Whole both of the Supplies and of the Ways and Means
for the Years 1764 and 1765 being now ftated, fome Eftimate
may from thence be formed of what each on the fame Plan would
in fubfequent Years have amounted to ; in doing this I will
take the latter of thofe Years as the beft Meafure to go by, be-
caufe the leaft afFefted by the Confequences of the War j and
I muft firft dedu<5t from ihe Supplies all the Charges which do
Jiot belong to a Peace Eftablifhment, fuch as Debt paid ofF or
provided for. Exchequer Bills which are Debt continued, and
»of the mifcellaneous Articles, London Bridget the Blockhoufe near
Cape Appohnia, and the Money given to replace Payments out
of the Civil Lift, all which w^re occafional Expences now at an
End ; on the other Hand, an Addition muft be made to the
Expence of the Militia^ which though charged at no more than
80,000/. for either of the two Years, yet being eftimated at
150,000/. in a Cloathing Year, muft be ftated on an Average at
about 1 00, oool. per ann. and there are alfo to be added theDeficien-
«cies of Funds, and the Extraordinarie* of the Army, Navy, and
•Ordnance, which though Debts when brought to account, yet
as
ik
[ 41 J
as they will annually occur, muft be included in an Eftimate of
the annual Expence.
In the Deficiencies of Funds I include all Sums paid out of
the Sinking Fund as a collateral or temporary Security, which
are to be made good by Parliament, and are a Debt incurred
every Year to be paid out of the Supplies of the next ; theie
were in- 17651
Deficiency of Annuity Fund 1758"
Deficiency of Annuity Fund 1765
Navy Annuities
/.
s.
d.
48176
I
lit
49742
I
2i
J 39342
2
4
237260
5
6
but 34,835/. Jtoj-. 7f Navy Annuities having been faved by pay^
ingoff 870,888/. 5/. $d.f of the Principal in 1765 the Defici-
ency of Funds was thereby reduced to about 202,400/.
As to the Extraordinaries which may be annually incurred be-
fore they are provided for, thofe which have been brought to ac-
count, confifting principally of Debts contraded by the War,
afford no Affiftance in eflimating fuch as may be expected in a
Time of Peace ; fome there always will be for Services which
could not be forefeen; but others have been frequently laid be-
fore Parliament in apCounts of Debt rather than in EftimateSy.
only as the lefs quel^onable Shape : It is a irore open, a more
manly Proceeding td State Things as they are ; and previoufly to
provide for Services which will certainly occur : This was the
ConduG of the former Adminidration ; and the Eftimates are
thereby raifed j but the Exceedings will be fo much lower.
The Navy during the late Peace annually contracted a Debt
of about 100,000/. but it appears from the Papers laid before
Parliament in 1752 and 1754, aflligning Reafons for the En-
creafe, that a great Part of it arofe from too precipitate a Re-
duction of Seamen, from too fcanty a Provifion for Rebuildings,
and from Arrears of the War : I allow in another Place for fuch
Arrears, and therefore canaot include them here -, The Rebuild-
ings
i I 1 i
' f M
1 42 ]
hrgF, and Repairs are a heavy Article immediately after a War;
but when the Navy has been once put into thorough Repair, the
regular Expence might certainly be brought within 200,000/.
which was the Sum allowed for it in 1 765 ; the Ordinary on
the Eftablifhment of that Year, was near a third higher than it
ufed to be ; the Number of Seamen almoft double ; (for during
(the laft Peace they never exceeded 10,000, and were one Year
;reduced to 8000 Men,) and the four Pounds per Miin per Month,
which is voted for them, furnifhes a larger Sum for Extiaordi-
naries than the additional Expence will require ; fo that though
the Services *be more extenfivc, yet as the Provifions made for
them have been encreafed in a greate- Proportion, it may reafon-
ably be expcdled that a Navy Debt ould not be annually in-
curred, when the Confcquences of tii War are fatisfied.
The Extraordinaries of the x'^.rmy in the late Peace when
.quite clear both of .the Confequcnces and the Preparations of
War, were hardly 25,000/ per aim. Thofe incurred in England
jiiult be nearly the. fame as they were : Thofe \n Scotland fnould
.be much lefs, the Ex.pence of making Surveys and Roads in the
Highlands being ended, or drawing to an End : The Charge
pf Provifions for Gibraltar and Mino'ca,^ Part of which always
(Came into the Account of Extraordinaries, is diminiflied, by the
.Reductions made by theTreafury in 1764 in the Prices of all Con-
.trads : And the Difference between Brittjli and Irijh Pay, wlMch
ufed to be inferted in that account, is now included in the Efti-
.mates, Thefe feveral Articles amounted to above two .thirds
of the .Whole -, and fo much therefore the Exceedings on the
^Services above-^mentioned ought to be diminifhed ', but in Ame-
rica they muft be encreafed : That Service is .not only more
-cxtenfive than formerly, but fome Parts of it cannot yet be tho-
roughly underffood ; and therefore the Extraordinaries cannot
be calculated : Two principal Articles, however, by which they
are generally incurred, the Garrifons and the Provifions were
amply provided lor on the Eilimates laid before Parliament in
J 765 : Were I to reckon the others which if that Counlry had
.continued as it was, might have arifen, at i 6,doo/. or 1 8,000/. more
than
m
• •[ 43 1
th^n they hiwe commonly been in Times of Tranquility, it
\Youl(i ff^em a great Allowance ; and yet even allowing fo rnuch^
the Extraordinaries of the Army would not upon the Whole
exceed the Sum they aipounted to during the laft Peace!
, The Butinefs of the Ordnance is of luch a Nature that the
Extraordinaries can be forefeen and computed with greater Cer-
tainty than any other : They are comprehended in the Eftimates»
and thoie inourred and not provided for in Time of Peace fel-
dom exceed 5000/. or 6000/. The American Expence, however,
not being yet known, the,Exceedings may for fome Tijne be
rather more; but as all the new fiftablimmcnts there were included
in the Eftimate for 1765, and the ceded Countries were at the
fame time very largely fupplied with Stores, I believe 10,000/.
niay be an ample Allowance.
Upon thefe Premifcs the Peace Efiablifhment upon the Plan
adopted in 1764 and J765 may be calculated in the following
Manner: - - >^,; -u v- iw ■■ - ,,.
Army ^ i .
Ordnance -
The four American Governments
General Surveys in America
Foundling Hojpital ^^ -.'^ ^^
To the African Cottimitl6'e '^
For the Civil Eftablifhment oh the Co^ Qf Africd
Militia - - -
Deficiency of Land and Malt
Deficiencies of Funds
.-3^,,
.'/»
•'- no •^.■)Utv]Ti'.
o
ll
n nj tt
1,450,900
i,268,5po
174,660
19,200
1,600
3^^000
r3,ooo
7od,ooo
300,000
202,409
Extraordinaries of the^'Army aiid OfdJliulC*' " ^V ^'l' 3 ciood
Tbfal 3,6o9i7oo
«0
. ti'.o mn'/. a.>ni)ifniai-'-voJi; u;!:
•4 '*. •
t' a f ^ . r O. , ■ The
V,' i:js .thui l"WM t<yi T?) !■/* .t^ 3-j itirt- nr,.fjJ.<l •/.Til c riji niot i •
.»;i I
■ iiii««ja«i
•Im
•' ' .1
■ ■ [ 44 ]
The Ways and Means for fupporting this Expencc may ^
computed in the fame Manner, by omitting the occafional
Articles, fuch as the grofs Sums, the Exchequer Bills, the Sur •
plus of the Annuity Fund 1761, the Surplus of the Sinking
Fund 1764, and the Loan; and on the other Hand reckoning,
the Militia Money at the fame Average as in the above Efti-
mate, and the American Revenues including both the Stamp*,
and the Impoft Duties not at the Sum for which they were
given, which was the fuppofed Produce for only Partof a Year^
but at I 6o,ooq/. for a whole Year, and then the Calculation wilt*
be as follows :
>.!l.|.
Land and Malt
Militia Money
American Revenues
Duty on Gum Senega
Sinking Fund
t ji_i /
.. I ni.il itlr ...... rrit'I v:.>. .100,000
.<i M-a: -t Ui , ..: ; ; 1 60,000
• ■ • 12,000
2,100,000
f^^^ /\.^m
Total 5,122^00
^ Thefe two Eftimates comprehend every Article of permanent
Expence and annual Revenue as each at that Time flood ;
there was indeed another Charge, that of Interell upon Part
of the remaining Unfunded Debt, till it (hould be paid off;
none bore Intereft except the Navy and Exchequer Bills : The '
^favy Bills left unprovided for in the Supplies for 1765, amount-
ed to 471,589/. 5*. B</.f, the Intereft upon which at four per:
cent, is 17,863/. 1 2 J. 5</. *. The Exchequer Bills being ilfued'at',
diiferent Periods as Occafions require, fome early and fome late '
in the Year, the Intereft therepn cannot, be precifely afcertain- ,
ed, but nine Months upon the Whole is, T imagine, a fair Allow- '
ance : which " at three per cent, on J, 800,000/. amounts to
40,500/. and being added to the above-mentioned Sum on Na-
* From this a fmall Dedudtion muft be allowed for non-intereft Bills, and for
the Intereft upon the others which in the Accounts added to the PrincipsU.
vy
nay ^
afionai
ic Sur«
linking
Iconing.
c Efti-
Stamp:
y were
a Ycar^
on wilt^
/.
^50,000
00,000
60,000 .
12,000
[00,000
22,000 -?
aianent .
flood J ',
n Part ,
off; '
The;,
nount-
ur per :.
ued'at',
ne'iate '
ertain-: ,
\tlo\v-
ints to
mNa-
smd for
vy
r 45 1
iy Bills, the whole Intcreft on the Unfunded Debt brought to
account, and left unprovided for at the End of the Period
which is my prefent Subjeft, was about 58,000/. per tinn. this
was indeed a Charge, but it was temporary, and it might be
paid by other Means than the ordinary Revenue : There were
fcvcral large grofs Sums ftill to come in ; above 360,000/, rc-
r '.ncd of the Compofition Money for French Prifoners : The firft
Sale of Lands in the Neutral Iflands has produced near 1 ^0,000/.
thefe together amount to almoft Half a Million j and a Payment
of 58,000/. per ann. till all the Unfunded Debt bearing Intereft
ihall be difcharged, willconfume but a fmall Proportion of fuch'<
a Sum ; The greater Part of it may be applied in Diminution
of the Principal; nor was this all that was 10 applicable ; there
were Demands for the Subiiilance of French Prifoners not com^
prehended in the Compofition : There has been but one Sale ii^-
the Neutral Klands, and though feme of the moft valuable
Lands are fold, yet the Quantity is inconfiderable, and fome
hundred thoufand Acres ftill remain undifpofed of. Other Parts,
of the new Acquifitions (if the Example were followed) would
find Purchafers i and various Branches admit of Savings like
thole which have been mentioned in the Army Accounts : Half
a Million more might, thus I am perfuaded be eafily raifed, by.
only adting on a Plan already formed, purfuing Enquiries which-
have been begun, and directing them towards Objedts diftinftly
pointed out j and when all thefe Means are confideredi the Un-
funded Debt left unprovided for in 1 76 5, appears no longer for-
midable ; though it ftoodupon the Account at near 4,400,000/.'
yet as there will always be a Navy Debt which cannot be paid.
off to the. amount probably of 1,400,000/. about 3,000,000//
was fufficient: to provide for all that had then been brought be-
fore Parliament; and a Sinking Fund of 1,500,000/. appli-
cable, to that Purpofe, (for fo much the ordinary Revenues ap-
pear by the above Eftimates to have exceeded the annual Ex^
pences„) aided by fuch grofs Sums as might be produced, would
in a fhort Time furnifti the Means of difcharging it, furpofing
the Peace Eftabiifhment and the National Jncome to continue
G2 as
A>'^\
• [ 46 r
ts they then were j but both arc conflantly luhjcCt to great Al-
terations : Every Year will produce Tome ; and as many which
inufl be v«*i*y conliderablc were near in Profpefl, and certain, un-
4ers a Change of Meafures interfered to prevent ihtm, it is nc-
celTary to lake thefe alfo into Confidcration.
The Navy is liable to the kal!:, for excepting the fmall Sum
of 5000/. for a Lazaret which will fall in of courfc, I do not fee
any Redudtion which can be depended on : The Provifion for
Rebuildings and Repair; was indeed very liberal, though it has
been fince thought too fcanty ; but in the former Peace (after
the firft Charge had been defrayed) no more than 100,000/.
was ever granted, and even that Sum not conftantly : The
Whole that was given in 1752, 1753, and 1754 amounted
only to 200,000/. fo that on the Ertablifliment of 1764 and
1 765, there was as much allowed in one Year as had been be-
fore given in three ; the Navy is larger than it was, nnd it
ought to be kept on the moft refpedtable Footing ; but furely
fuch an Encreafe mud be fufficient, without incurring any
iPebt, to anlwer all reafonable Purpofes whatfoever.
The Eftimates of the Army were open to greater Redui^ions j
for the Vidualling of the Regiments in the Plantations, amount-
ing for thofe in Ncrt/i America to 22,242/. 3/. ()d. and for thofe
^n the ceded Iflands to 9*7 S^l- (>s. io</.4 could not have conA-
ginned to fuch an Extent conftant Charges on the Bntifli Efta-
blifhment, even if that Country had remained in the Situation
it then was. When the Stations of the feveral Corps on the Con-
tinent fhould have been fixed, the Number of Out-pofts perhaps
contracted, the back Settlements extended, the new Acquir-
tions improved, and Security eilabliQied againfl: further Inter-
ruptions and Diflurbances, many of the Troops might have
furnifhed themfelves out of their Pay with greater Plenty than
all the Expence of Vidlualling could give them j and as foon
as the ceded Iflands fhall be tolerably well planted, they will
not defire to be exempted from a Burthen wnich is chearfully
born by others, of allowing an additional Pay to the .Troops
■employed in their Defence, and then a Supply from hence v^ill
.^e as unneceflary there as it is now in Antigua or Jamaica.
But
>!'t
' [ 47 ]
But befidcs this, a further Experience of the Service mu/l point
out other Savings : Some were inade in 1764, fuch as a real'
inftead of only an apparent Dcduftion from the Pay of the
Men vidtualled in North Atmricai^. and putting a Stop ^o the
Pradice of fupplying the Provincials with Provifions at the Ex-
pence of Great Britain ; an equal Attention to publick Occo-
nomy would certainly difcover more in a Service fo new, fo
cxtenfive and fo open to Abufes> and it plight therefore be
fairly prefumed that within a Year or two this Expencci would
have been confiderably, abated, and full Half of, it perhaps
taken off in four or five Years •, but thefe are Coiiliderations
which I mention now only to fhew the State of the Service at
at tliat Time : I fhall hereafter obferve upon the Difference
between that Time and the prefent, in this as in every other
Circumftance relating to the Colonies. ;
As to the Ordnance, every War leaves fome particular B«-
fmefs for that Office to perform ; cither a weak Part has been
difcovered, which the Enterprizes of our, Enemies warn us to
ilrengthen, or fome Conquefl: which has been made requires
Fortifications to preferve it : At the Epd of Qjjeen Anne\ War
it was Gibraltar and Minorca : In 1 748 it was Scotland and Nova^
Scotia : It is now the ceded Countries in America. Such a Ser-
vice therefore is not peculiar to this Period -, every other Peace
has been charged with fome which were fimilar,,and which-
being now determined or diminifhed, make room for the prefent-
Expence : This too like them will gradually leflen, it, is pro-
bably of a fliorter Duration than they were; for the new Co-
lonies will certainly be as willing as the old Colonies are, when •
they fhall be as able, to maintain their own Fortifications :
Other extraordinary Services are in the mean while drawing to-
wards a Conclufion, and the Savings upon the Whole may per-
haps amo int in a fhort Time to 10,000/. or 1 5,000/. /^r ann.
There are befides in each of the Services very confiderablc
Expences, which are always high after a War, but which de-
pending upon Lives and Contingencies, niufl diminifh every
Year; fuch as the Half-pay to OfHcers of the Navy, Army, and
Ordnance,
! [ 48 ]
t
Ordnance, Chf/fa Hojpifa/, and other Penfions and Allowances."
In the Eftimates for the Year' 1750, thefe fcvcral Articles
amounted together to about 219,000/. In the Eftimatcs for
1754,'th^ Avere reduced to about 184,000/. they amounted iu
1765 to about 377,000/. and if, fuppofing them now at the
Height, they dccrcafc only in the fame Proportion as they
did before, they will net four or five Years hence exceed
;? 17,000/. or in other Words the Peace Eftablifliment iX the End
of that Period will be reduced 60,000/. by the Savings on thefe
Articles, "^'^thin the fame Period the Service of furveying
America win be at an End ; and the Expcnce of the Foundling
Hofpital, which in confequence of the late Regulations decrcafes
annually, will have in a great Manner ccafed : The Deficiencies
of Funds too muft be diminiflied j for both the Annuity Fund'
1763, and the Navy Annuities being iowr per cents, redeemable,
the leaft that can be thought of is that they will be redur'-d to
three : The Saving thereby will be above 60,000/. per , it
may reafonably be expected befides that a great Part of ''a-
Ty Annuities may be paid off; and at the Time I am now con-
fidering there were no Thoughts of repealing the Cyder 1 ax,
which was fo confiderable a Part of the Annuity Fund 1763 ;
on the contrary the Profpedt then was that it would produce
on an Average 15,000/. or 2o,coo/. more than it did in the
remarkably deficient Year, which alone had then been brought
to account ; with an Addition therefore to the Produce and a
Diminution of the Charge upon that Fund, it would rather
have yielded an Overplus than have incurred a Deficiency, and
the whole Article of Deficiencies of Funds would probably
Jiave been lefs by one Half in the Space of five Years.
1 i I . . »'
^ sV.:T J:u'^n :;_:wJ'^u Thefe-
• ' . rt f 1' '■ ■ ' ';.€
';• ; ,,!.r- rN''i>: aivjw 1, 'i''-; ■ i
( 49 1
Th^re foveral Savings being collected togeHicr the State of
Hhcm is as follows : f . ; i ! C> . r n ' : ' . : r. ../n -, ■ ; .i
•■•• .'..1. ".ii "1^ •Jv''i)«''^^'> 'n^<' •''?•' '1 '". -iii!'X/T •^r' L!,]' .. /^
In the Navy li-'niii ?iU ,• .n--. > j-.!«- > ■ i-.^.'.;tl ^qoo
IntheArmyr • * " -mt • . 16000
In the Ordnance - ' ' \m • .;.) - 10000
In the Half-pay Cbelfea Uojpitat, &c. &c. -'^ ;' ' ' 60000
Ini thcSurvcysof America " '■ '' ' ' -'» >'* ' nl. . r /. 1600
la the Foundling Hospital \"'ii ^"-'i; '1. ' 38000
In the Deficiencies of Funds ) • '^ • ^ -^ looooo
.'(,'..• 1 ■
-jiri -.liJ /.. , >!■' >« '•/ 1 ^-'l v^^'t ''i ''''i k--*"',U Total 230000
Moil of thefc Articles I am fcnfible I have under- rated r
There were alfo other Redu(5lions likely to take place, but which
not being cq,ually fure,, I have not mentioned j and of thefe
fome of the mofl confiderable mufl be conftantly encreafing :
But by thefe alone thus eftimated, there was almofl a Cer-
tainty, that the Peace Expences on the Plan then eilabliOied,
would' in five Years have Deen> brought to about 3,380,000 per
ann, and that more than Half oi Uiis Reduction would have
been made in two Years.
By means of fuch and other Savings in the Expenditure, and
©f the Improvements which I fhall prefently mention in the Re^
venues, an Opening was made for a Redu<5tion of the Land-
tax : The knded.Intereil could not defire fuch a Relief, while
a vaft Unfunded Debt prefled down public Credit,, clog'd all the
Meafiircs of Government,, and abforbed every Refource of Re-
venue : But that Debt being brought within Compafs,, the an-
nual Charges diminifhod, and further Reductions immediately
in view : When thefe fhould have taken Place on the one Hand ;
and wh-rn on the other Hand, the Laws paffed for encreafing
the feveral Branches of the Revenue,, and for engaging all
Britijh Subjefts to contribute to the Support of their Country*
fhould have had their EfFedt j a Shilling in the Por.nd at firftj
and afterwards, perhaps, more plight haye,bcea taken off, and
' ' as
i{
t
i^
lis fb mnch'had"be«hTldne t!i' facilitate %cl/a^'e4u^pflii:^'^aij
^become nc diflant Objedt, " • ' ' ■
It \/ould be Raflmefs to fpeak very dec;flvely of the other
.principal Branch of annual Hevenue, the Sinking Fuikl, com*-
pofed as it is of fo vaft a Variety of Parts* all of them in thet
Nature fiuduating ; bat yet by computing what k has amounted
■to on an Average for (qm^ Ytats hjif^ «nt(l<<!onfidering itbe CiiS-
'Cumflances which may affedt it hereafter, J^teie though no aU-
folutely certain Judgment may be fornted^ and I think the Con^
x:^uAon will be that on th^fe Confiderations only there is ttk
greateft Probability of its \)roducing generally for the Aiture
jnore than it i^as given for in 1765. But I will not for the pre-
fent include that Year in my Csdculation, becaufe I wifli^to keep
■«the two Periods in whicH the Rbvehue has beeii uhder different
Adminiftrations, as diftiiidl as po<Iible, and the Prodtice of that
Year was brought to account^ during the latter of the two. In
^fpeaking of the Sinking Fund I 'fliall confider ft, according to
the true fiftiple Idia of it, *»»• ebhfifting of certain Duties which
have been carr^d to it; 'fend of 'the interi^ of Befcts charged
«pon thofe Duties : The 'feactefi of the Duties above the Irtterefl:
<x>n(litute the Surpflasl or as it is ic»riet5ihes called the Produce
of the Sinking Fund; other Difburfements whitii may be paid
out ^'f it, in cofifc^uence of ks being a collateral or a^tempo-
rary Security, are no* properly Charrges upon it ;. the^ are al-
ways 'coriditioned to"be made good out of the fir^'Aids granted
ty Parliament,- and are therefore no more than occaftohal^ums,
advanced One Year,- and replaced cmt of the SuppL^j cf the
sicxt I But the Sinking Fund being ftiJl fo qiuch in Advance,
Care trmft always be taken in "cafting up .'it's Produce for any
given Tertn, to def'mdt rrom the firfb Yeair of th'at.Terrh the
Money then brought from the Supplies, and to ^dd to the, lift
the amount of the Dleficiencies paid out 01" it that Year, in order
to come ^ ihe true Total of the geriuinfe Sinking Fund. Thife
beihg prcmifed, the annual SurpHts Papers' furhill;ifufficient ^late-
rials for making up fuch an Axcoiirtt",'ahd in them the 'Produce
for the feveh Years, previous 'to i 765,' is ftated as follows : '
For
[ 5» ]
For the Year 1758
.,. .; 1760
-. /.. ,'L.. 1761
} 1762
1764
,'*»
J :■/;
Total
/.
s.
</.
1924900
9
10
1689097
2
2t
241 1072
Ot
2296801
5
.^,^
I9223I2
3
«t
1984244
4
6t
2703034
14
li
1443 I46I
J9
6^
To which is to be added the Deficiencies paid out of the Sink-
ing Fund in the laft of thtfe Years, to be replaced out of fub-
fequent. Aids amounting to 237,260/. nothing was brought from
the SuppltV" in the firft Year of the above Period, and there-
fore no Dedudlion is to be made on that Account ; but on
others there are rtiany j for all adventitious Acceffions muft be
taken out of a general Average : and thefc have been, the
Overplus un-'ppl-fd of the Sinking Fund 1757, the Sum acci-
dentally arifing froni the Land-tax 1 758, the Duties on Spirits
before they were appropriated, and one Quarter's Charge on
the Beer Duty in 1764, the Sinking Fund havinf received fo
much more of the Produce of that Duty than it bore of the
Charge upon it: Thefe feveral Sums together amount to
839,219/. and thefe Additions and Deductions being made the
vhole State of the Sinking; Fund ftands thus :
• ^ Surplus in feven Years
n , Add Deficiencies 1763
\-^'- Dedudt -adventitious Acceflions ..^.. .;*
. y-I. : :f'\r-\ ,*i
I i', -■ .
IV 71'
'■''" Average Surplus each Year
-rii ,..,,. • ,^ .,;..-. ..... , ■ ■■
il'-A 14431461
;, 237260
I 466872 I
:j 839219.
7) 13829502"
. ■-•■ 1975643
.... . iV-?!?
■iX'/r ;mr:7f;/i'vJT : But
> y ■* * * w\\r*,j
n
m
!';,'^-
I 52 ]
But *hough this Term be the beft that can be taken for fuch a
Calculation, as comprehending in the latter Years of it at leaft
more of the cohftitnent Parts of the prefent Sinking Fund
than any other, the Average upon it is ftill a very imperfect
Meafure ; and that upon aS many fublequent Years will without
doubt be greater : The a:bove Period was for the moll Part
Time of War ; and there are few Funds which do not gene-
rally yield more in Time of Peace ; thofe of Excife, the moflr
important Branch of ?\jy, particularly do, unlefs accidentally
affedted by Seaions ; An annual Improvement at all Times arifes
from the Falling in of Life Annuities i thofe fubfilling at the
Clofeof the Year 1764, amounted to near j 00,000/. j.er anm
and a third of them were created during the War : So that the
yearly Saving on tl^at Head will be greater tlian it ufed tp be
in the former Peace j Some befides of the moil lucrative Accef-
fions to the Sinking Fund have been carried to it fo lately, that
the former Years of the above Period had no Advantage from
them : The Beer Duty upon which the Surplus is near 30,000/.
perann. was not incorporated till 1764, and of the Regulations
made during theAdminiilration in 1764 and 1765 in almoft every
Branch of the Revenue, fome indeed had taken Place in the lafl
Year of the above-mentioned Term, and whatever the Opera-
tion of them was, it will continue : Others, however, had not
then commenced j that known one for Inflancc in the Polfe
Office, by the Rellri<5tions put upon Franking, and by t^ FaK^
ling in of the Crofs Poil on the Death of Mr. AlleHy. which-
together were eflimated at t2,oool. per ann. was not brought tO'
account till the lafl Quarter of 1764, and many can hardly
yet have had their full Effedl : No precife Judgment can be
formed of the Civil Lift Revenues, which have been incorpo-
rated about Half of the abovementioned. Term -, but though
their future Produce cannot be calculated with Exadhiefs, yet
the Fadl of their having produced, even on fb difadvantageous
an Average as of the whole Reign, much more than the 800.000/.
which v/ere given in lieu of them, fully confutes all the Endea-
vours which have been ufed to depreciate his Majefty's Munifi-
cence : The Advantage accruing from thence to the Public is.
iliU
lis
liU
[ 53 ]
ftill more apparent on the fairer Average of the three Veirs of
Peace we have enjoyed ; and in the laft Year the Surplus was
about 200,000/. The Acceflions to the Poft Office indeed come
into that Account, and whether the Regulation of Franking
would have taken Place unlefs for the Benefit of the Publick,
may be a Queftion ; but even dedu(5ting thefe, the Incorpora-
tion is ftill a noble Addition to the Sinking Fund, and it will
hardly be Icfs than it is now : On the contrary, thefe Revenues
will in common with others continue to encreafe, unlefs new
Meafures interpofe to thwart thofe which were taken for tlie
Improvement of almoft every Branch of Revenue : What the
amount of all thofe Improvements may be, does not admit of a
Calculation; it is not even within the Reach of Conjetfture ;
but that it mull be very confiderable is evident from their Num-
ber and from their Importance : To ftate them only is to prove
it : and that Proof I fhall endeavour to give, without pretend-
ing to feparatc thofe which in 1 764 had begun, from thofe
which wore ftill to begin ; or fuch as immediately from fuch as
ultimately afFed: the Sinking Fund ; but confider them all as
Improvements of the Revenue in general.
In the Cuftomsr, not only Regulations were introduced into
particular Branches, but general Precautions were taken for the
Prevention of thofe illicit Pra(aices, which are equally deftruG-
tive both to Trade and ^ enue : Not that they can ever be
totally fuppreffed ; but tixtv may be and they have been very
much checked, by exerting the Po\^ crs given by the Law for
that Purpofe, by vifiting ^nd exaniiiinig into the "^tate of every
Port in the Kingdom, by exciting an extraordinary Vigilance
and Alertnefs in the Officers, and by adding to the Se Guard
T/hich before fubfifted, all the Aid which an enlarged Marine
Eftablifliment could fupply : The Occafion as indeed more
urgent than ever ; for our Power and our Taxes have encreafed
together ; a greater and more a<5tive Force is therefore requi-
fitc to Tifintain the one; a more fteady, a more vi? ^ous Exe-
cution of the Laws is neceffary for colleding tlu len Accu-
mulation of Duties is always a new Inducement to Smuggling :
X^ruifers are undoubtedly of Ufe in retraining it ; and to mul-
U 2 tiply
I. i\
• [ 5+ ]
tipty their Nuriibcrs muft cncreafe the Hazards, the Lofle*,
and the Expences of Smuggling : But all their EtFcdls can never
be exa<5lly afcertained ; for the en:iploying of bmuggling Cuf-
ters is a preventive Meafure : They are intended to deter, to dif-
appoint, to delay, as well as to fcize ; and therefore to judge
of them only by the Captures they make, is to confider but
a Part of their Utility : Thofe in the Pay of the Cuflom-houfc^
if tried by this Teft, would hardly be found to anfwer ; and
yet to leave the whole Sea open to Smugglers, that they may
there hover unobferved, watch their Opportunities without Mo-
leftation, and carry on their TrafHck without Danger, io a pre-
pofterous Idea; if it was right at all Times to have fome, it muft
be right to have more Cruifers on this Service now that the Pro-
fits of a clandeftine Trade, are, by means of the additional
Duties, greater than they were ; and fliould it only appear that
though the Temptation be fo much the ftronger, yet tne Pfac-
tice is not cncreafed in Proportion, that Circumftance alone
would prove the Efficacy of this and the other Meafures which
were taken to obflrud: it : The additional Number I have al-
ready obferved, are furniftied more eafily by the Navy than they
could be by any other Means j and it is no Derogation from
their Service, that rrore Captures have been niade a/foat by the
Officers of the Cuftoms than by thofe of the Crown : What*
eVer is taken whether by Boats or by Cutters^ and v/hether in
Harbours in Rivers or on the Sea is feized ffioat ." But the Ope-
ration of the Navy Cutters is chiefly on the Sea, and the fair
Parallel therefore would be betweea the Cuftom-houfe Cutters
only and thofe of the Navy, in Proportion to their Numbers.
Several fimilar and fome new Regulations were made for the
Tame Purpofe with relied: to j^rffrica : The Objed: was more
important there -, for th- Evil was greater, and the Confequences
of it more pernicious, as tending to break the Conflejfion be-
tween the Mother Country and the Colonies j but lefs Care had
been taken of that Department than of any other : The firft
Step was to eftablifli an cflfedual Sea Guard, which was more
wanted than it is here, becaufe the Difficulty is greater to fe-
cure fuch a vaft Coaft, full of little Creeks and Landing-places,
im-
[ ss ]
impcrfeftly explored, little frequented, and net at all attended to :
But by enlarging the Operation of the Cruifers, extending the ho-
vering Ads to the Colonies, and preventing the eafy Communica-
tion of fmuggled Goods from one Province to another, fome Re-
medy was applied to the Evil. All Intercourfe with St. Pierre and
Miquehrij was at the fame Time prohibited, aivl the Pradtice of
clearing out for the Plantations a fmall Proportion of a Cargo
in the Ports of this Kingdom, with a view to run in the reft
there, was totally put an End to. By thefe and many other
Regulations, which it would be tedious to enumerate, fome
Check will (if they are duly carried into Execution,) be cer-
tainly given to the illegal and dangerous Commerce which has
fo long and fo fhamefully prevailed in the Colonies : The great
Motives for fapprcffing it are Conliderations of Trade, which
I fliall enter into more fully hereafter : At prefent I men-
tion thefe Reftridions only as the Means of improving the Re-
venue at Home, by adding to it the Duties retained on fuch
Commodities, as are thereby driven back into their natural-
Channel through this Country, inftead of being imported into
the Colonies either diredly from Europe^ or from foreign Plan-
tations^
As an Object of Revenue alone, the Smuggling from the
tjle of Man was a more inveterate Evil : The Extent of it was
grofsly apparent j for the Produce of a little barren Country,,
bleak in its Climate, and blighted by the Sprey of the Atlantic
Ocean ; or the Confumption of the Natives, few and needy as
they were, ignorant of the Luxuries, and content with few of
the Conveniencies of Lif,, could hardly amount to Articles of
Commerce : But the Trade by which the Place has been peopled,
and the People have been enriched, was calculated for far other
Purpofes : The Situation of the Ifland was convenient for Smug-
gling : The peculiar Grant of it from the Crown, and its Ex-
emption from the ordinary Procefs of the Courts of Great Bri-
tairiy defeated in many Refpedls the Execution of the Laws j
and favoured by thefe Circumftances, the Traders there pro-
vided inconceivable Quantities of contraband Goods, with which
they fupplied the Weftern Coafts of England and Scotland^ from
■ '" ■ .-••:- Coithneji
Vi
[ 56 ]
Caithnefs to Cornwall^ and the whole Circuit oF Ireland: With
this View they imported into the Ifland Wines, Brandies, Vel-
vets, and other Species of Goods from Fnmce and Spain : Tea,
China, Tobacco, Sugars, Lawns and Cambricks from .ffow-
/>urg^, from Hillandt and from Flanders : They roved into the
Baltic in queft of a further Supply, and brought from Denmark
and Sweden all Sorts of Eaft-Indian Commodities : They pro-
cured Rum, Coffee, and other Produce both bf our own and
of foreign Plantations : They brought even in London and en-
tered fbr Exportation the Silks forbidden to be worn, and af-
terwards ".-imported them : They received Draw-backs, at the
Britifli Cuftom-houfes on Goods which they carried out only to
run in again ; and conftantly keeping in Store large Affortments
of prohibited and high-rated Commodities, feized every favour-
able Occalion to convey them away, which they never waited
for long, as all tempeftuous Weather was their Seafon \ a dark
Night was c.n Opportunity J and from whatever Quarter the
Wind blew, it drove them to fome ready Market, filled with
their Aflbciates and Cuftomers : To fuch a Height were thefe
Pratflices arrived, thai the Lofs thereby occafioned to the Reve-
nues of Great Britain was computed at 200,000/. and to that
oi Ireland &t 100,000/. Some Check might have been given
by Ai^s of Parliament : Their Intercourfe with foreign Coun-
tries, and with this might have been reftralned j the Importation
of certain Species of Goods might hav6 been forbiddeii j Brea-
ches of the Law might have been profecuted in Britain ; and
Offenders agalnft it might have been purfued into their very
Harbours : But ftill the Grants of Jurifdidtion and of Cuftoms
which had been annexed to the Lordfhip, would have always
obftrU(fted the Effeft of fuch Laws ; under their Shelter open
Warehoufes of contraband Goods might have been freely kept,
and Criminals would have found an Afylumj that Mifchief could
be effedlually cured only by pUrchafmg fiich of the Rights of
the Lbrd as interfered with the Authority of the Crown over
the Inhabitants of the Ifland : A Contrad was therefore made in
1764 for that Pu'rpoffe, and the Ifle, the Regalities, Fran-
phifes, and Sea Ports, were annexed to the Crawn, on Payment
of
Ri Vr
[ S7 ]
70,000/. a Price cei-talnly not extravogant, if the Produce only
of the Culloms there> which amount to biitwecn five and fix
thoufand Pounds />^r <?w/. and arc included in the Conveyance,
be confidered : So much of them as arofc from an Importation
which was llridtly legal were alone worth fo large a Proportion
of the Sum given, that the Remainder is not too liberal a
Compofition for the dilUnguKhing Privileges, which a noble
Family wcr'^ by this Sale deprived of: All the Lulire however
of the Pofleflion which could be, has been prefervcd to them j
Befidcs their landed Interefl: and manerial Rights, the fplcndid
Patronage of a Bifhoprick, and the honorary Service at the Coro-
nation, ftill continue to grace their Patrimony j and his Mijelly
has been pleafed to add to the prefent Duke and Dutchefs of
Athol a Penfion upon Ireland^ tlie Revenues of which Country
are juftly charged with a Part of the Expencc incurred by a
Tranfadlion, the Benefit of which they will fo largely fliare.
The Purchafe being thus compleated, Provifions were made for
tlie due Improvement of it, by enforcing the Ad: of 7th George I.
which condemns all Eafi Indian Commodities imported into the"
IJle of Man^ except from Great Britain ; by forbidding abfo-
lutely the Importation even from hence of Silks and Linens
prohibited here ; by confining their Supply of foreign Spirits^
to the Channel through this Country only, flopping the Ex--
portation of them from thence hither, and laying even their
own,' Coafting Trade therein under Reftraints ; by extending the
hovering Adls to the Coafts, and all the Cuftom-houfe Laws ta
tile Interior of the IQand ; by allowing Offences againft thofe
Laws to be tried in the Courts of England, Scotland, or Ireland y
by exading Obedience to the Procefs of thofe Courts ; and by.
infli<5ling fevere Penalties, on the Infurers of contraband Cargoes ^
with feveral other official Regulations ; on the other hand, iw
order to fupply to the Inhabitants the Lofs of their illicit Trade
by a legal Occupation^ they are encouraged to profecute the Cul-
tivation of their Lands, by permitting them to import into
Great Britain their Cattle and other Produce free of Impoft Du-
ties : They are incited alfo to apply to Manufadtures by giv«^
ing the fame Bounty on the Exportation of their Linens, as
are
\i
f\
[ 58 ]
-are given upon the BriiiJJi and the IriJIi ; and left the Smuggh'ng
from the IJk of Man fhould be driven to the Danijh Iflands of
Faro, no Bounty or Drawback is for the future to be allowed on
Coods entered for thofe Iflands, and no Goods prohibited here
'are to be exported thither, which Precautions are accompanied
with other lleftridlionsj guarded by Oaths, and enforced by
Penalties.
There are but few of the important Branches of the Cuftoms
which will not feel tht Benefit of this Purchafc : They will alfc
be fenfible to the other Frovifions, which were at the lame Time
made for their Improvement. The Operations of the hovering
Adts, which ufed to be confined to certain Species of Goods only,
were extended to all that are liable to Forfeiture. In order to ftop
the Practice of Suffering for a fmall Con fide ration the VcfTel
which brought a contraband Cargo to efcape, a fmaller Share of
the Prize was given to the Ofiicer who does not fecure both, and
it is often of more Confequence to deftroy the Means of Smug"
gling than to forfeit the Subjeft of it. Some further Methods
have alfo been devifed for afcertaining the real Value of Goods
paying Duty ad valorem^ and a Check given to the Importation
of Lace, Ribbands, and other fine Goods of confiderable Value,
but of fmall Dimenfions, which the Pocket of a Coat or the
Fold of a Piece of Linen might conceal : In addition to thefe
general Regulations, fome were made particularly applicable tO'
certain Branches of the Cuftoms only, fuch as the Importation
of Tobacco Stalks, Coffee, Spirits, and Wine j alid the Abufcs
which prevailed with refpedl to the Bounty upon Refined Sugars
were removed by an Alteration in the Mode of paying it : By
which Alteration a Saving is made of two Shillings in twenty-
one on 60,000/. per ann. which has been the Average Amount
of thofe Bounties : A further Improvement will arile from the
Frauds by which they ufed to be obtained being prevented ; and
yet the Refinery continues to receive all- the Encouragement,
which -the Legiflature ever intended to give it.
■ This and fome other of the above-mentioned Regulations re-
late to the Cuftoms only j ,but many of the moft important of
,thofe which have been ftated, will have ftill greater Effefts ujion
• •• the
i'.«<fe.
re-
ktof
pon
the
[ 59 ]
the Revenue of Exclfe : The Inland arc higher than the Impoft
Duties on fcveral of the principal i^rticles of clandefline Impor-
tation } and many of thofe Articles greatly interfere alfo with
the Confumption of ; other excifeable Commodities : It is of
more Confequence to the Excife than it is to the Cudoms,
that Tea, Coffee, Brandy, painted Callicoes, &c. &c.&c. (hould
be brought to a regular Entry, and an Encreafe therefore in
that Branch aifo of the Revenue arifes from the Meafures
-taken for the Suppreflion of Smuggling : The Purchafe of the
J/le of Man v/l\\ particularly contribute to it, as the moft ma-
terial Branches of the illicit TiaJe there, were peculiarly de-
trimental to the Excife ; a Practice moreover prevailed there
diredly levelled at this Revenue: A Brewery was eftabliflied
in the Ifland j the Corn was brought from Great Britain ; the
Bounty on Exportation received j it was then made into Malt
and Beer, free in both Stages of the Manufadure from the Du-
ties of Excife } and with thefe Advantages the Brewers there
.could fupply the neighbouring Coafts and the Ships which fre-
quented them with Malt Liquors, at a much cheaper Rate than
the Britijh Brewers could pretend to do ; the Cbnfequence was
that all V-Tels trading from the North-Weftern Ports to Africa
and America, touched at the IJle of Man for their Stores ot ^his
Kind ; but they are now prohibited to take them in there :
The Commodities themfelves are fubjedt on Importation into
.Great Britain to all Britijh Duties whatfoever j and the Bounty
is taken off from the Corn exported thither ; by which Regula-
tions the Brewery* in the IJle oj' Man is deprived of the unfair
Advantages it had over that of Gr^<z/ Britain, and the Duties due
on the Malt and Beer fd con fumed are reftored to the Excife.
This, however, is Jiot the only-Improvement in the fame Branch
of the Revenue : The laft Duty of is. per lb. on Coffee having
been found to be heavier than the Commodity could bear, was
laft Year lowered to Six- pence upon foreign Coffee, and entirely
taken off from that raifed in our Plantations : Provifions weiv
;aIfo rnade during the fume Seffions for preventing fome Frauds
in the Duties upon Hides and Parchment'; for afcerlaining the
Allowance which had till then been difcretionary for Soap d»-
I maged
It
If
'I
. t 49 ] ■
maged in the Making j for extending td a Species of Beer
brewie4 in Scotland called Two-penily feveral Excife Laws, for
want of which the A€t recites that the Revenue thereon had
been reduced above one Half j and iiit the better colle^ing in
maiv^ refpedts the Duties upon Beer, Starch, Candles, Tea and
Coffee, which being meerly official Regulations, I ihall take no
further Notice of.
The fame AdI contains fome Provifions relative to the Salt Du-
ties, for preventing Frauds, for fecuring Officers in the Difcharge
of their Duty, for extending Forfeitures, and for facilitating
Profecutions ; a minute Detail of which I (hall not enter into.
The Stamp Duties alfo underwent a like Revifion, and many
official Regulations were made with refpedt to thofc on Admif«
fions of Freemen, on the Binding of Apprentices, on Adver-
tifements, on Ale-Licences in England^ and on Policies of Infu-
rance, for which I muft again refer to the Aft which provides
them : It contains, however, others of more Importance, adapted
to remedy enormous Abufes : The vaft Quantities of uoilamped
Cards which were played with was a fcandalous Infraction of the
Law ; but the new Reftridtions put upon the Making and the
Sale of Cards, render that Pradtice almoft impoffible for the fu-
ture. In another Article, that of Ale-Licences in Scotland^ the
Difregard fliewn to the Stamp Afts was very extenfive ; It was
principally owing to the Juftices negledling to meet in order to
grant Licences, and to the Incompetency of their Jurifdidtion
over Offenders : But both thefe Mifchiefs are now removed, by
obliging the Clerk of the Peace to grant Licences if the Juftices
do not i and by giving an Appeal to the Barons of the Exche-
quer. Befides thefe Improvements, a Saving was made in the
Charges of Management, by reducing the Allowance to Per-
fons buying Quantities of Stamps to a certain Value, from three
to two per cent, which Difference on fo large a Quantity as is
bought by Stationers and others, to fell again, or to ufe in their
Bufinefs, muft be confiderable.
The great Addition to the Produce of the Poft- office, by the
Rcftridtions upon Franking, and by the Acceffion of the Crofe
Poft, ^s been mentioned already ; and many other Regulations
were
( 6i ]
were alfo made in that Department : The Pradice of fciidinj*
Letters by the common Carriers was very detrimental to the Bu-
finefs of this Office •; but the Mifchicf did not extend far from
the large Towns, and to check the Prevalence of it in their
Neighbourhood, the Rates of Poftage were by an Ad paflcd in
1764, lowered for the two firft Stages ; all other Diftances are
to be exadly afcertained by an adlual Survey of the Roads ; and
Authority is given to the Poft-mafter General to eftablifti Penny
Ports in fiich Places as he fliall judge proper. Thefe Alterations
will be fo many Conveniencies to the Inland Correfpondence and
Trade j the foreign will enjoy (till greater, as the Rates to,
from, and in the Plantations were by the fame Ad reduced ;
thofe between Hamburgh a.nd-London put upon the fame Footing
as other German Poftage ; and another Communication opened
with Ireland through Port-Patrick and Donagbadee, which will
be always fafc and certain : The frequent Mifcarriages alfo of
Letters fent by private Ships is remedied, by obliging the Cap-
tains of fuch Vcflels, before they break Bulk, to deliver their
LettjBrs into the Port j and allowing them a Confideration for
their Care of them. Thefe greater Regulations are accompanied
with others which are official, and with fevcral Provifions for
the regular and fafe Conveyance of the Mails.
It is impolFible (as I before obferved) to eftimate the Effed
of all the above-mentioned Regulations ; but if each fhould pro-
duce but a fmall P edition, fo many mufc amount to a great En-
creafe of the Revenue j feveral of ihcm are, however, themfelves
confiderable j and all concurring with the other Meafures which
were taken for the fame End, would in a.fhortTime (if they
had been fteadily purfued,) have eftabliflied the Finances of the
Kingdom on the moft refpedable Footing j and future Opera-
tions would have aded with Freedom and Efficacy, delivered
from the heavy Preffure of an Unfunded Debt, affifted with un^
ufual Vigour in every Department of the Revenue, and ftrength-
ened by the great Improvements thus made, by Additions on the
one Hand, and Savings on the other. Th^ American Revenues
(though now reduced) were laft Year an Acceffion eftimated at
160,000/. The Duty on Gum Senega 12,000/. TheFund created
I 2 ill
\ i
[62)
m 1765 for the Payment of Navy Bills 45,000/. The Regulation
of Franking and the Crofs Poft 62,000/. amounting together to
279,000/. which was fo much certainly added, exclufive of all
that might arife from the Incorporation of the Civil Lift Reve-
nues, from the Purchafe of the JJIe of Alan, from the Check
given in all Parts to whatever was prejudicial to the Revenue, ,
from the numerous and important Regulations made in every
Branch of it, and from the great Encreafe both of Home Con-
fumption and foreign Trade, which muft be the inevitable
Confequences of the Peace, and of the Meafures with which'
it has been followed. ' '' , ;J.j'-^"» -.']» ' "^ ' 'T
Another large Fund was at the fame Time growing out of.
Redudions in the Eftabliftiment, and continual Savings of In-
tereft j of the former fiifficienthas been faid already j the latter
alfo have been all of them occafionally mentioned ; and being
collected together, the Account of Intereft* faved within the Pe-
riod of two Years ftands thus:. ,' i . .' , ' i,V' / '\' '"
.; ? r'-i?:-i;b( •f/J « coaxU' 2ni-voUi: imsi i!lo^\ vifh ifjiii , j. J^
Four per cent, on 650,000 Navy Bills palH off 26000- ■
One per cent, on 1,500,900 Navy Bills provided 7
Four /wr f,f«/. on 870,888 5 5^ Navy Annuities 7 - q -
paid off yd 5 3'^w{:;«ti;^^3.>l L'fi' iiU- u-J Sf^'SS
* One percent. 1,800,00© E!xchcquer Bill S' for?
nine Months ^ ^3ioo
One per cent, on ^1,750,000 Loan on Land. and )
Malt for Ji Year " i t>woV.' «>«d d<x'jg{ yt i 41250
i'-fiV'
10
7t
ii'
it.) t:
130585 10 7|.
• t put do\»tn the Ihtereft on Exchequer Bills at nine Months, to allow for the
different Times of iiluing them, which are uncertain, but the Allowance muft be
larger on 1,800,000/- than it would be. on 800,000/. becaufe the 1,000,000/. taken
by the Sank is outcftanding more Months than the 800,000/. wluch is ifl'ued in
Payments. The Loan on the Land and Malt is alfo outftanding. above a Year and
Half, but I chufe rather to under-rate than exceed in r^v Computation. I muft
alfo again obferve that fomc fmall Dedu^ion is to be mac .or J*Javy Bills not beard-
ing Interclf, wnd for Intereil made Principal 5 but it is very trifling.
Which
r h T
Which Sum being added to the Improvements arlfing ffom Ac-
ccfiions to the Revenue, which (as appears above) amount to
279,000/. the AduiJ Encreafe of difpoleable Income durhig the
Years 1764 and 1765, appears to he httle lefs than 410,000/*
cxclulive of all that may arifc froL^ thofe Meafures the Eft'edts
of which cannot be afcertained.j and exclufive of nU Reduc-
tions which have not adlually taken place, though ever fo near,
or ever fo certain ; and all thefe Improvements were made with
the Aflirtance of a fmall Loan, on eafy Terms, at a Time when
it was attended with no Inconvenience j the Event having proved
that there was no Ncceflity for that larger Loan, which was fo
clamouroufly called for.
It is true that the. Revenue would thereby have been raifed ;
but no Fund) I doubt, could have been found equal to the Inte-
reft of the then Unfunded Debt, which would not have been de-
trimental to fome valuable Branches of our Manufactures or our
Commerce : Tliey are both loaded already with liurthens as
heavy as they can bear i and the rival Manufadlures of other
Countries (as I before obfervcd) are benefited by the additional
Price of Materials and Labour here : Inflead therefore of en-
creafing the Difparity, the Legiflature more wifely endeavoured
to ballance the Advantages which we could not take away from
the foreign Manufadurers, by others which we could give to
our own j and even the Duties impofed in 1764 and 1765 were
made fubfervient to this Purpofe : That upon Coals exported
(as I have already faid,) is a Tax upon foreign Dyers, Diftillers,
Makers of Glafs, Workers in Iron, and other Artificers, and
enhances to them the Price of fo neceflliry a Material : The Ex/-
ception out of the pew Duty upon CalUcoes exported, in favoin:
of fuch as (hall be printed in Great Britain^, gives to the BritiJJi
Callico-Prin'tcr an Advantage over all others, who fupply them-
felves at our Ea/t-India Company's Sales with the white Callicoes
for printing : The Duty upon Gum Senega has the like Ten.-
dency with refpeifl to the Manufadurers to whom that Material
is indifpenfabiy neceflary ; we have now the Monopoly of it.j
. the Exportation of it from Africa to any other Place than Grat
Britain is prohibited by an At\ of the Seffions, 1765 j and the.
Duties-
I
I
[ 64 ]
Duties laid upon it are only Six-pence /►^r.Cw/. on the Impor-
tation, but 1/ loj. on the Exportation : So much therefore will
the Difference of the Price be in this and other Countries, after
the Trade is got into its proper Channel, exclufive of the Ex-
pences of Freight, Infurance, and Commiffion. Wu have alfo
by the Ceffions in North America acquired a Monolopy in the
Beaver Skins ; and the Opportunity was taken in 1764 to redtify
the Abfurdity which fubftfted in the Charges upon them ; Seven-
pence ^^r Sfiin being impofedon the Importation, and ]i''our~pencc
draw-back allowed on the Exportation ; by which Circumuance
of Favour to Foreigners, our Manufadure of fine Hats was
daily declining : But the Whole is now reverfed j the Beaver
Skins when imported are charged v/ith no more than a Penny,
and the Seven-pence is laid on the Exportation. An Alteration
was alfo made laft Year in the Duties upon Silk, in order to en-
courage the Art of throwing it in this Kingdom : The Duty
upon the Raw Silk was reduced ; and that upon the Thrown im-
ported was raifed, in order to encourage the Importation of the
former ; and if the Experiment (hould fucceed, the Difference
may be made ftill wider. The feveral Commodities which ',/ill
be affedled by thefe Alterations are ufed in a great Variety of
Manufadtures : They will all (except the Silk which we cannot
.command) coft lefs here than any wriere elfe, and the Cheapnefs
(Of the Material being thus fet againft the advanced Price of La-
bour, the Britifli Manufafturer may in fuch Articles ftill keep
-the Place he has hitherto held in foreign Markets.
With refpedt to the Home Conlumption, it has It ig been
ufual to impole high Duties upon foreign Manufactures, with a
View only to encourage our own : Such as are liable to thefe
heavy Impofitions naturally become the Subjeds of clandeftiue
Importation : Others neceflarily muft be fo, if they can find
any Vent here, thofe I mean which on the fame Principle are
abfolutcly prohibited j and the Prevention therefore of Smug-
gling, fo far as it checks the running in of fuch Goc^s, operates
to greater Purpofcs than meerly encreafing the Revenue : It fup-
jports our own Manufadtuies againft the Intrufion of others, and
• • . .' '•- -- • - •' - ■ " enforces
. nti.1
■
[ 6J ]
enforces the Execution of Laws framed on the wifeft Principles
of Policy. The Articles which will thus feel the falutary Ef-
fects of thefe Meafures are too many to enumerate i if I were
only to inftancc the two capital Manufaftories of Silks and Li-
nens in their feveral extenfive Branches, the Benefit which they
will thereby receive is alone a National Objcdt. Spirits, Lace,
and all Sorts of fine Goods have been mentioned above ; and
there are a great Number more to which the Execution of the
former Laws, and the additional Regilations introduced to fup-
port them, are equally ferviceable.
Many Branches alio of the Britifh Manufa(flnres will foon find
the Benefit of the Plan formed for the SupprefBon of the illicit
Trade between the Colonies and foreign Nations, if it be properly
fupported. The Extent of that Trade was enormous,, and it was all
ftolen from the Commerce, and Part of it from the Manufadurea
of Great Britain , contrary to the fundamental Principle of Colo-
nization, to every Maxim of Policy, and to the exprefs Provifioa
of the Law. Whatever may have been the Value of the foreign
Manufadlures thus formerly, and now no longer imported clan-
deftinely there, it muft in the End be expended in Great Bri'
tain i and a ftill further Preference was in 1764 fecured to th©
BritiJJi Manufactures, by retaining upon all foreign Commodi-
ties fent thither from hence, the Whole inflead of only Half of
the Old Subfidy ; the Impofition is not indeed very heavy j but fo?
far as it extends, it is in favour of the Britijh Manufaftures. Du-
ties ftill higher were at the fame Time laid on the Goods for-
bidden to be worn here, upon the fame Principle a» the Prohi-
bition is founded : A Check is thereby given to the Confumption.
of Fr^f^ Lawns and Cambricks in America: The Ea^- Indian
Wrought Silks and Painted Callicoes will not for the future ex-
clude 10 much as they have hitherto excluded the Silks wove and
the Callicoes printed in Great Britain ; and a further Induce-
ment is held out to the E^jl-India Company to bring home Raw»
Silk and white Callicoes to be manufactured here. The Prohi-
bition, however, is not extended to the Colonies, for which, if
there were no other Reafon, the Demand for thefe Commodi-
ties'
V
.(,i ''-I
\ '
-[ -66 ]
ties from the Spanifh Main would alone be a fuffieient Confiie-
ration.
Another Advantage was in the fame Seflion given to the Ma-
nufaAurers, by including in the enumerated Commodities feveral
Articles of the Produce of the Plantations, which were not be-
fore fubjeifl to fuch a Reftridion : All the various Denomination*
of Peltry, Raw Silk which will probably fucceed there, and
Whale Fins and Pot-afties, the Quantities of which annually
encreafe, arc now forbidden to be exported from the Colonies
to any foreign Country, and will therefore be cheaper and in
greaterPlenty at thcBritiJh Market. Coffee, Pimento, and Cocoa
Nuts were like wife for. the firft Time enumerated -, they are not
of equal Confequence, but they ftill deferved this Attention, as
valuable Articles of Confumption. .. .. -• /.'A- ■"'. "
Moft of the Regulations I have mentioned as beneficial to
Manufadtures, arc imiportant alfo to the Commerce and Naviga-
tion of this Country. Difficulties impofed upon Smugglers,
are Facilities ^iven to the fair Traders, and relieve them from
Competitors they would not otherwife be able to contend with :
Duties, it is true, arc often Burthens upon Trade ; but if the
Neceffities of the State require that they fliould be laid, it then
becomes the.Intereft of Trade that they be equally levied: If
they are not, he that pays them is qppreifed by him that does
not J a fraudulent Dealer robs the honeft Merchant of his jufl
Gain; and good Subjedls are in the End more heavily loaded
for the Profit'. of .bad Citizens. This is true not only of the
Cuftom-houfe Duties, but of every other : Frauds upon the
^xcife are detrimental to the upright Dealers in €xcifeable Com-
modities i and all Evafions whatfoever of Revenue Laws, tend
to ?i\hance the Prices of the open Market, and to make further
' Taxes ^neceffary for fupplying the Deficiency which they occa-
fion. In another Light too, the Prevention of clandeftine Im-
ports is A great commercial Confideration ; Foreigners thereby
iiitroduce into .this Country feveral Kinds of Goods, "brought
from diftant Parts . f the World, the Advantages of which Traf-,
fie, and the Carriage of which Commodities, the Britijh Mer-
chant alone ought to have : To fecure it to them is the "princlpul
Objea
f. 11'
■4
flf
f
ii
•ojftfll
\. .
[ (^7 ]
Objeft of the Adt of Navigation j fuch a Trade is a diredl In-
fringement of that falutary Law : It is therefore in this Viev^
highly pernicious here \ but in the Colonies it is fatal ; I (hould
digrefs tod far were 1 to ftate all the mifchievous EfFefts of it
there : It fuHices to obferve that the Check given to their ille-
gar Practices muft encrcafe their regular Supply f.om hence,
when the Caules of its prefent Flu(9tuation fhallbeover; for
that Part which Foreigners did, the Britiflt Merchants will fur-
nifh ; as the Exclufioh of the one, is Admittance to the other.
Some of the mod valuable Articles of clandcftine Importa-
tion both into Great Britain and the Colonies, are the Eafl In-
dian Commodities : The Difficulties put upon Smuggling are
therefore particularly beneficial to the Company, wha alone are
the rightful Importers : How fir their Trade is an adva;nta-
geous Trade is no Part of the Ctucftion : The Confumption of
the EaJi-,Indian Comraodi'.ies wili continue; and it is certainly
of Confequence to the Britijh Navigation to have the Carriage
of alt that is confumedby jBr/ft)^ Subjefts ; but of fo much as
is run in here or in tbe Colonics^, other Nations have the Car-
riage from Iidia to Europe, and, perhaps, from Europe to Ame"
rica : and to recover the Navigation of fuch long Voyages, and
the diredt Importation of ths vaflr Quantities of Goods now
brought for our Ufe by Foreigners, are important national Ob-
je<fls : It is well known to what a Degree the Smuggling of Tea
and other Articles was arrived ; in fome it was carried to fuch
an Excefs as almoft to exclude the Company : The coarfe printed
Callicoes, the Cowries and Arangoes, for which there is a great
Demand on the Coaft of AfricOy were generally obtained from
the IJle of Man i ft> much fo, that upon thei Purchafe of that
Ifland, it was neceflary to provide that the African Trade fhould
not be deprived of the Supply, and Authority was therefore
given to the Lords of the Treafury to licence the Importation-
of them fromi any Country in Europe, if fufficient fhould not
be imported dircdtly from India: Atprefent the Company can-
not furnifti fufficient > they have had no Encouragement to bring*
them lately ; but being reftored to the Market, they will take
Care conftanJly to make a Provifion equal to the Demand,, and
K ■ ■' • to.
\i
'f
to have the Whole Benefit of this AcceiTion to their Commerce,
A like Attention was fhewri to the yifrican Trade in the Ar-
ticle alfo of Bugles, by allowing them to be warehoufed free of
Duty, initead of exading the whole Duty on the Importation,
and returning it afterwards in Drawbacks ; Thefe together with
the coarfe printed Callicoes, Cowries, and Arangoes, may from
hence-forward be attainable upon as cafy Terms here as any
where elfe : The Inducements to bring in fuch Commodities
clandeftinely are taken away } and Ships failing to the Coaft of
Africa will no longer be tempted to touch in Holland or other
Countries for a Supply, the Confcquence of which Deviation
moft frequently was, that they took in alfo Gun-powder, Spirits,
and other Aflbrtments of Goods, and made up a great Part of
their Cargoes there : The African Trade will be therefore more
our own than it has been j it is in itfelf greater than it was by
the Acquifition of Senegal ; and a further very liberal Plan was
adopted in 1765 for improving all its Advantages. The Com-
mittee of Merchants who had the Management of the Whole,
were diveftec* of that Part of the Coaft which lies between the
Port of Sallee and Cape Rouge: The reft was. left to them
ftrengthened in their Hands by building a Block-houfe at the
important Point of Cape Appoknia : That which was taken from
them was vefted in the Crown ; a civil EftabUfhment was form-
ed, with jurifdiifUon between the Rivers Senegal and Gambia j
the Duties upon Gum are a Fund for fupporting it ; a regular
Military Force is to be maintained there ; and all the Securities
againft domeftic Oppreilion or foreign Invafion, all the Benefits,
in fhort of a fettled provincial Government, are provided for
that Diftri<5t. This muft be an Encouragement to the prefent
Faftories ; it will the Means of encreafing them ; it may be
the Foundation of future Improvements in Power, in Commerce,-
and in Settlement, to a Degree, perhaps, of Colonization : But
without carrying the Idea quite fo far, it v/ill at the leaft cer-
tainly give Stability, Order and Credit, to the Britijh Trade
upon the Coaft, and make our Eftablifliments fuperior in
Strength, Extent, and Influence, to thofe of any other Euro-
pean rower.
But
f}'
it
le
in
I 69 J
But of all the Meafures which were purf'icd for the Benefit
of Trade, thofe were by far the moft importani; which refpeited
the Colonies, who have been of late the Darling Objedt of their
Mother Country's Care: We arc not yet recovered from a War
undertaken folely for their Protedioii: Every Object for whic|i
h was begun, is accompliflied j and ftill greater are obtained
than at firll were even thought of ; but whatever may be the
Value of the Acquifitions in America, the immediate Benefit
of them is to the Colonies ; and this Country feels it only in
their Profperity; for though the Acceflions of Trade and of Ter-
ritory which were obtained by the Peace, are fo many Additions
to the Empire and the Commerce of Great Britain at large, yet
they principally affedt that Part of her Dominions, and that
Branen of her Trade, to vyhich they immediately relate. To
improve thefe Advantages, and to forward ftill further the pe-
culiar Interefts of the Colonies, was the chief Aim of the Ad*-
miniftration in the Period now before me. Their Whale-
Fifliery was encouraged by taking off the heavy Duty under
which it laboured; in confecjwence of which G.atuity it muft
now foon entirely overpower our own, and will probably rival
that of the Dutch ; fo as to fupply not only the whole Demand
of this Country, but Part alfo of the foregnConfumption. The
Reftraint laid by the Ad;s of Navigation upon the Exportation
of Rice, was at the fame Time relaxedj and Liberty given to
both the Caro/i/jas sind to Georgia, to carry it to foreign Planta-
tions, where large Cargoes may be annually difpofed of. The
Culture of Hemp and Flax in America was promoted by Boun-
ties ; and another Bounty was given upon the native wild Pro-
duce fef the Continent, the Timber, in fuch Proportions on the
feveral Species of it, as will enable the Colopifts to bring vaft
Quantities hither. Should the Ends intended by all this Libe-
rality be anfwered, and the Effed: be, as in Time it probably
will be, that the foreign Plantations will be fupplied wholly
with Rice, and this Ifland in a great Meafure with Whale Bone
and Oil, with Hemp, Flax, and Timber, from the Colonies,
the Encreafe of their Trade will exceed the moft fanguine Ex-
pectations : The Confumption of thefe Commodiiics which they
K 2 may
h
I
4
#4l
^ ' V"
Ivl MMi
[ 70 ]
tnay be able to-furnlfli cannot be eftimated at lefs than a Mil-
lion a Year : In all they will undoubtedly have a Preference, and
in fome a Monopoly.
At the fame Time that new Branches of Commerce were
thus given to them, others which they had before were impro-
ved. The Prohibition on the Exportation of American Bar Iron
from this Kingdom was taken away by an Aft pafled in 1765.
By the fame Aft the Importer of Rice intended only to be re-
•exportedi is excufe'd from advancing the Duties : The Eiirou-
ragement given to the Culture of C ofFee in the Plantations, by
reducing the Duty thereon below that charged on other Coffee ,
has been taken Notice of before ; and a ftill further Preference
was fhewn to the Produce of our JVeJi- Indian Colonies, by lay-
ing heavy Impofitions upon the Ihdigd, Coifee, Sugar, andMe-
lalTes of the foreign Ifland? importedinto North AmericOt while
the fame Conimodities raifed in our own, were lightly charged
at the moft, and fome of them entirely free. It is alfo of ge-
neral commercial Utility that the Fees 6f Cuftom-houfe Ofli-
cers fhould bie fixed j and that Correfpondence by Letters fhould
be frequent, fafe, and eafy : and for both thefe, fo far as the
Colonies were concerned in them, particular Provifions were
made by the Afts fo often referred to. V"-' ^\ , iT J^,. > -•
Whatever maybe tjbe Effefts of the Attehtiori thus (hewn
to' the Colonies, the Benefit will be partially felt here, but prin-
cipally there : To them the Whole is gain j we on the contrray
In inany Refpefts fuftain a Lofs ;. and if the Interefts of the
Mother Country could be diftinguiflied from thofe of the Co-
lonies, it wduld be difficult to juftify the Expence fhe has
thereby incurred J for out of her Revenues, the Bounties upon
^emp, Flax, and Timber muft be paid j and on fo much of the
Britijh Confumptipn as fhall in confequence of this Encourage-
ment be fupplied from ^wfr/ftf, there will be a furth(;r Lofs of
the Duties upon foreign Hemp, Flax, and Timber now im-
ported here : The Duty too upon Whale Fins muft be taken
into the Account, which is another Deduftion, avowedly made
Vvith a View to give their Fifliery a Preference even to our own ^
'' *•- ■■• ••,'•::-•-•-,.., - and
y
m
[ 7' ]
and it is obvious that the Amount of the Whole, though it
cannot eafily be eftimated, muft be very con fiderable.
Were there no other Ground to require a Revenue from the
Colonies, then as a Return for thefe Obligations, it would alone
be a fufiicient Foundation : Add to thefe the Advantages obtain-
ed for them by the Peace j add the Debt incurred 'j^ i War
undertaken for their Defence only ; the Diftrefs thereby brought
upon the Finances, upon the Credit both publick and private,
upon the Trade, and upon the People of this Country; and it
muft be acknowledged that no Time was ever fo feafonable for
claiming their Alfiltance. The Diftribution is too unequal, of
Benefits only to the Colonies, and of all the Burthens upon the
Mother Country j and yet no more was defired, than that they
fhould contribute to the Prefervation of the Advantages they have
received, and take upon themfelves a fmall Share of the Efta-
blifhment neceffary for their own Prote<5lion : Upon thefe Prin-
ciples feveral new Taxes were laid upon the Colonies : Many of
them were indeed, as I have already fhewn, rather Regulations of
Trade than Funds of Revenue : But fome were intended to an-
fwer both Purpofes : In others the Produce was the principal
Obje(fl ; and yet even the moft produ(ftIve of all, were of that
Kind which is perhaps more tender of Trade than any other :
The fame Sum could not have been raifed with fo little Oppref-
fion by Impoft as by Stamp Duties *, for they do not aft'edl
fome Articles of Commerce more than others j they do not
even fall upon Men of any particular Denomination : They
are heavy upon none, becaufe they are paid only occafionally ;
and they are colleded with more Eafe to the Subjed than any ;
but a Diftindion between internal and external Taxes was fet up
in America, and Occafion was from thence taken to railc Diftur-
bances there, the Partis, -lars and the Confequences of which are
of fuch public Notoriety, that it is needlefs to mention them :
The Events too were fubfequent to the Period I am now conli-
dering j and many of the Queftions which they gave rife to,
* It is itnpoflible to fpeakwith Certainty of the Produce of any of the ytmirican
Taxes : I have therefore throughout followed the ufual Calculation, and eftimated
the Imppft Duties at 60^000/. and the Stamp Duties at 100,060/. f(r ann.
' being
I
[ 72 ]
being cither legal or political, it d,oc3 not belong to a Work of
this Kind to dilcufs them. But fuph Confiderations of Finance
and of Commerce, as were or ought to have been attended to
before any Impofitions were laid in America, arc immediately
within my Subjedl : 1 (hall not however dwell upon thofe which
related to the btamp A(ft alone, the Repeal of that Ad: having
put an End to them ; but whether or how far the Colonies
ought to be taxed for the Purpofes of Revenue, is ftill as it wa«
then, a very weighty Confideration, and it will therefore be ne-
celTary to take fome Notice of the Arguments on either Side of
fo important a Queftion,
'. The Inability of the Colonies, and particularly of thofe upon
the Continent, has been pleaded in a Variety of Shapes ; though
the Inhabitants of North America are reckoned by fome to be
near 2,000,000 of People, and allowed by all to be 1,500,000 at
the leaft. Taking then the lowed Computation, and fuppofing
that 100,000/. had been levied upon them, fuch a Sum on fuch
a Number could not be an infupportable Burthen i a Capitation
Tax of One Shilling and Four-pence per Head would roife as
much J lefs than a Day's Labour would provide every Man with
his Quota j and the Djftribution muft be perverfly partial, to
make that oppreffive, which if equally divided would have been
fo inconfiderable : With refped to the Iflands they could well
have born their Share, for the Weft-Indians exceed the North-
Americans in Wealth, as much as they fall iliort of them in
Numbers.
But the Colonies, it is faid, were not before free from Taxes,
as they always provided for their own domeftic Eftablifliments j
and does not Great Britain maintain her domeftic Eftablifliments
alfo ? Nor can fuch Charges in a remote Province ever bear any
Proportion to thofe of the Mother Country, which is the Seat of
a mighty Empire, and fupporta the State of Monarchy, the
Splendor of a Coui:t, the Luilre of Nobility, the Dignity of
Magiftratcs, and the Importance of Office, amidft the Profur.
lion of a Capital. The Eftabliftiments of all the Colonies at
prefent, do not together amount to 160,000/. per ann. adding
therefore to thofe the new Duties, ftill the Sum to be raifed an-
nually
[ 73 ] ,
nually In the Plantations would have been little more liian
300,000/. while the Revenue of this Country exceeds io,coo,coo/.
per ann.
The Intereft of the Debt incurred during the laft War by the
North American Colonies, is not included in an Account of their
permanent income, becaufe the Debt is fmall, and will be of
very ftiort Duration. At the End of the War it was between
2,500,000 and 2,600,000/. It is already reduced to about
767,000/. and the greater Part of this Remainder will be paid off
in two or three Years, by Funds provided for that Purpofe : But
our appropriated Funds are rivetted down on our Pofterity :
Savings of Intereft give no Relaxation of Taxes : They are ftill
wanted to difcharge the Principal i and we do not fee the Prof-
pedl, even in a diftant and uncertain Futurity, of a Reduc-
tion at all proportionable to that which has been already made
in the Colonies : So different are the Circumftances of their
Debt and ours ; and as to the amount of each, the Compari-
fon would be ridiculous between the National Debt, and 767,000/.
daily dwindling into nothing : Or if the Confideration be li-
mited to the Expences only of the laft War, and their and our
Debt thus contraded in a common Caufe put together, the
general Burthen, even in this confined View of it, appears to
be unequally divided, r:i ...^ - : - ' .' . <•;
But it was never intended to impofe on them any Share of the
National Debt : They were never called upon to defray any
Part of our domeftic civil Expences : The Legidature only re-
quired of them to contribute to the Support of thofe Efta-
blifliments, which are equally interefting to all the Subjeds of
Great Britain. The Charge of the Navy, Army, and Ordnance,
oi Africa y znd of America, is dhoxit 2*000,0001. per ann. Thefe
furely are general -, they are as important to the Colonies as to
the Mother Countj-y ; as neceflary to their Protection, as con-
ducive to their Welfare, as to our own : If all ftiare the Benefit,
they fhould alfo fhare the Burthen ; the Whole ought not to
be born by a Part : The Americans ire in Number a Fifth of the
Britifli Subjects ; yet the Aid required of them was in the Pro-
^' <■ :. i • -, .?.w u. I '^ U::!J; ;: J.'V ^' ^ portion
1]
[ 74 ]
portion only of about one in twenty ; and to make it ftill more
t-afy, the Expenditure was rtdraintd to that Country.
In anfwer to this it has been alledgcd.that xhcj'lmericans, bcfides
paying a Duty on the foreign Commodities with which they are
fuppHed from hence, contribute largely to the National Revenue
by their Ccnfumption of Britijh Manufadtures, the Price of
which is enhanced to them by the Taxes here ; It is true ; but
if fuch Reafoning be purfued, it will be found equally true that
they contribute alfo to the Revenues of France^ to thofe of
Chma, and in fhort of every Country with which we have any
commercial Communication. Thofe Countries likewife may be
faid to bear a Part of our Charges, for they buy our Commodi-
dities J and it muft at the leall be acknowledged, that Great
Britain makes an ample Return to the Colonies in the Ccnfump-
tion of their Produce, with tl Jvanced Price upon it, which
their provincial Impofitions occaiion. Could the Fadts be afcer-
tained, perhaps it would appear that we pay in this Manner,
if not an equal Sum, yet as large a Proportion of their Taxes,
as they pay of ours j Far their Contribution arifes chiefly from
the Britijh Manufadures, and but little from the foreign Com-
modities, which are, however, a third Part of their Supply :
While our Contribution is oh the American Produce, which is
the greater Part of their Return : But the DifcufTion is intricate,
unfatisfadory, and endlefs, and without entering further into
it, thus much is evident already, that the Benefits which the
Revenue of either Country receives from the Confumption of
the other, are mutual j that the Ballanc e between them is un-
known ; and that therefore neither Side can avail itfelf of any
important Conclyfion to be drawn from Premifes fo very xxxi-
certain..i^^^v»'<vv .^o'),*'Co,f J"n:..; fi ,\»iv\m^V. io i>'"5 .■ v^^vv • >
■ When thefe Confiderations of Revenue fail, others refpe<^-
ing Trade are urged : We have their All, they fay j all that
they can gain, all that they can raife is fent hither, to purchafe
Britijh Manufaftures, and we muft therefore be content to fee
their Demand diminished, by fo much as any Revenue we re-
quire may amount to : But does their All really even center in
Great Britain ? Their illicit Trade was computed during the
lail
[75 ]
laft Peace to be about a Third of their aiflual Imports ; and
the Money diverted from that to the Support of the EftabHfli-
ment, is certainly no national Lofs : Of the Supply from hence,
a Third is alfo fuppofed to he in foreign Commodities j fo that
upon thefe Calculations *, .'he Britifh Manufadlur.s do not
amount in Value to one Half of the American Confumption ;
and the utmoft Force therefore of the Argument is, that vvc
lofe a Vent for 80,000/. worth of Manufactures, by getting an
Acccffion of 160,000/. to the Revenue Even this is not true
if the Revenue be fo much wanted, that unlcfs it is raifed in
America, Great Britain muft furnifli it ; for no large Funds can
be created here, which will not affedt our Manufadlurrs ; the
Home Confumption, the foreign Demand, even the American
Supply will be thereby leflened ; and the Diminution being ge-
neral, it may amount in the Whole to a greater Lofs than can
be apprehended from an American Taxation ; all fuch Argu-
ments prove too much j they are as ftrong againft feveral Du-
ties here; againft any additional Duties; againft Duties already
liibfifting ; for the Propofition is generally true, that Taxes are
detrimental to Trade and Manufa<flures ; but thofe which are
leaft fo, are the beft ; and burthened as this Country is, I be-
lieve none can be devifed lefs prejudicial to either, than Taxes
upon the Colonies, when proportioned not to their Numbers but
to their Abilities, and adapted to their Circumftances, upon
Principles of Juftice and Equality.
The Argument is nearly the fame, it is only weaker, when
inftead of the Confumption of the Colonies, the Confequtnce
of that Confumption, their Debt to this Country, is pleaded,
and the new Duties are rcprefcnted as depriving then' of the
Means of difcharging it : This Complaint would be juft, if a
Revenue had been exacted from them, without furniftiing tliem
with Refources for railing it ; but the Peace, and the Meafures
taken fmce for improving the Advantages of itj have done
* The Propornons may be different now ; but all Conje£lures abon* the Alte-
ration mud be very uncertain ; and the fame Reafoning is iipplicable to any other
jvhich m.'iy be thought the prefent Proportions.
much
■•» -.i^ti..- rV'*; 'M'HWtft^'
[ 76 ]
much more : For It would be rating the Ccffions made hy
France very low indeed, if the Security which is the Confe-
quciice pf them ; if the vafl: Acccflion of Territory ; if the
Intercourie opened with the Indians^ their greater Demand for
Cloathing, Arms, Spirits, and other Commodities, and the
Monopoly of their Return in Beaver, Furs, and all Sorts of
Peltry j if the Improvements of the Cod, Seal, and Sea-Cow
Fiihery i the Eftablifhment of the Right to cut Log-wood ;
the Facilities obtained in the SpaniJIi Trade by the Approxima-
tion of our Settlements to theirs ; and the other Act^uifitions
c4' the Peace ; were not all together valued to the ylmericam
alone, at a Sum much larger than the Revenue expeded from
them. In thjs Enumeration I have not included fuch Articles
as have lately received particular Encouragement ; the Whale
Fifliery, the Rice, the Hemp and Flax, and the Timber ; nor
the Preference fhewn in fo many Inftances to the Produce of
our Illands, over that of Foreign Plantations. By all thefe
Means we have encreafed the Abilities of the Colonies, to pur-
chafe our Manufadures, to make Returns for the Supply, and
to difcharge their Debts in Great Britain : All Objeitpns there-
fore to the Taxing them, as aifedting their Trade, are relblv-
able at laft into a Complaint, that we have not done more for
them. We have opened to them new Funds of Wealth j and,
if we apply'd a Part of it to the National Service, the Deduc-
tion was only from our Boon, not from their Property : That
after all Taxes paid, if all had continued, would have been
greater than ever ; and the Commerce faid to be opprefled,
would, upon the Whole, have been far more flourifhing than
if no Duties had been laid, and at the lame Tipiq none 0/ the
above-mentioned Advantages given. V . , :, ,? 1,:, ,- , ». •,
Even without entering into the Value of thefe Add'tions to
their Trade, the Bounties alone on but two or three x-^rticles,
would have enabled them to fupport the new Impolitions ; for
fhould this Country be fupplied from America with the Com-
modities upon Avliich they are given, the Sum which the Colo-
nies would thereby entitle themfelves to receive from the Go-
vernment here, would have been a Fund for anfwering the De-
mand
[ 77 ]
mand of Government upon thcmj and this Sum is of Ready-
money, which they may order to be remitted : It is a dircift
Grant of fo much as it may amount to ; and ought to be cfti-
mated as fuch, independantly of the additional and much greater
Value it acquires with them, as the Means of extending their
1 r-rtde, and encreafing their Returns.
Nor is this the only Fund lately provided for them : The En-
•creafe of the Eftablidiments there furniflics them with another,
which alone would more than ballance th^ Account : For thofc
Eflablifhmcnts during the late Peace did not amount to 100,000/.
fir ann. and at prefent they are about 350,000/. cxclufive of the
Naval Expence which alfo is greater than it was, and exckifivc
of Extraordinaries, which in every Part of tint Service are aug-
mented ; including thefe, the Charge muP. be between four
and five hundred thoufand Pounds per ann. and though the
Whole is not fpent in that Country, the Cloathing, Arms and
other Articles being provided here ; yet no Deductions, how-
ever liberal, will reduce the actual Expenditure in Ammca near
fo low as 160,000/. and whatever the Excefs m.^y be above that
Sum, it muft be remitted thither from Great BritrJn ; whatever
may be the Amount, it is at the leaft four Times as much as it
ufed to be: So that on this Ground alfo the Colonies are enriched;
and they are here again upon the V/hole in much better Cir-
cumftances, than if there had been no additional Taxes, and at
the fame Time no additional fiftablifliments. ' , '. .
But notwithftanding thefe Refources, there is a Scarcity of
Corn and Bullion in America^ and it is therefore, they fay, im-
poflible to pay the Duties, as they are required to be paid, in
iilver; v/hicn Objedlion is founded upon a palpable Miftake ;
for the Adt laying Import Duties in 1764 only declares, that all
the Monies therein mentioned JJiall be deemed to be Sterling Money
of Great Britain, and JJwll be colleStedt recovered and paid to the
iimount of the Value ivhich fuch nominal Sums bear in Great Bri-
tain ', and that fuch Monies /hall and may be received and taken,
■according to the Proportion and Value of Jive Shillings and Six-pence
the Ounce in Silver. Thefe alfo were the Words of the Stamp
A€t : The Idea is taken in both from the 6th George II. ; after
L 2 all
|.^
"■••««*>> l^~ Wu wuiv
^:\^
[ 78 I
all thie Clamour which has been raifed about it, the very fame
Provifion is. made, and the fame Expreflions ufed, in the two;
Acts piffed <1uring the laft Seffion, for altering the Duties, and-
for opening Free-Ports in the Plantations ; and I will venture to
fay, that in every Revenue Law for America^, fomc fimilar
Claufe muft be indited ; for the whole Purport of it is only tO'
fix an equal Standard, not varying as Currencies may vary in
different Colonics j but had the Claufe flopped here, the Du-
ties mull have been paid at the P ate of 5^;. 2d. the Ounce, for
that is the Sterling Value ; the fublequent Words are therefore
added in order to give an Indulgence to the Colonies of Four-
pence in every fiv<i Shillings and Six-pence, and tlie only Ef-
fedt of omitting them would be to. take that Advantage away ;
the Rate is thereby afcertained in favour of the Colonies : but
the Specie in which the Payments may be made, is- no where-
prefcribed : They may be in Gold as well as in Silver, in Bul-
lion or in Coin,, and even in Paper, if the Credit of the Paper
be like that of Dank Notes, fuch as will fecure the Receivers
from a Lofs : If it be not, it would be abfurd to oblige them tO'
take it. But flill it is alledged. that as the Money raifed is to be
paid into the Exchequer, the Colonies will be. thereby drained,
of all tlieir Cafli; which indeed would be the Cafe, if theBal-
I'ancc between them and the Government were not in their fa-
vour : But as the Expence of the Eilablifhments exceeds the
Prodiice of the Duties, no Money appropriated to the Support
of thofe Eflablifhments can ever be brought hither -, for the
only Ufe which could be made of it, would be to fend it back,
again: To prev^ent therefore this double Remittance, Dlredions.
were given that when the Paymafter General had Occafion to
fend a Sum of Money tc America, he Ihould apply to the Com-
miffioners of the Cufloms or Stamps for Bills upon thsii: Collec-
tors in the Plantations J the Deputy Payn\a(lers there receive
on thefe Bills the Money in the Hands of thofe Coliedlors ; thfe
Paymafter here accounts with the Office from whom he has the
E'Us for the Amount thereof, and the Commiflioners of that
Office pay the Money fo received of him into the Exchequer : By
which
111
r 79 ]
which Tianfadllon the Provifions of the Ad are literally obeyed,
without drawing a Farthing from America.
The only remaining- Argument worth Notice, is, that Re-
ftraints being laid' upon the Trade of th& Colonies, they ought
' therefore to be exempted from contributing to the Revenue:
A very general Argument indeed, equally applicable to all
Times, and to all Taxes ; but which would not be a juft In-
ference even from a Suppofition that' they had no other Trade
than to their Mother Countl-y ; and is prepofterous when ap-
plied to a People, whofe Iiands through all their various Soils
and Climates ae luxuriantly rich in almoft all. the ProL^udtions
of the Earth, who befides their inexhauftible Fifheri^s, and
bcfides their Intercourfe with Great Britairiy carry on a mod ex-
tenfive Traffick with the Weji-Btdiesi with Africa, and with all
Parts of Europe to the Southward of Cape Fincjlerre j and whofe
Seas are from all thefcCaufes throng'd with Ships, and their
Rivers floating with Commerce, This fiourifliing State of their
Commerce contradids all the Complaints which have been made
of the Reftraints laid upon it : For fuch Reftraints have fubfiiled
from a very early Period, and under them that Tradahas been
eftabliflied and enlarged, which it is now pretended they op-
prefs : They muft have been more oppreflive upon Infant Co-
lonies i yet they never prevented their Growth ;. on th; contrary
they have been found at all Times, and in all Circuinftances, to
be indifpenfably neceflary ; and in reality, the Adts of Trade
do no more than cxprefs an implied Condition,, which is the
firft: Principle of Colonization i for no State would ever have al-
lowed its Subjects to remove inio a diftant Part of its Domi-
nions, if it were thereby to be deprived of their Services and
Uf( fulnefs : At home their Confun^ption and th sir Labour wero
all for the Benefit of the Countiy they lived in y Commodities
raifed, Manufadures made, or foreign > ?»'!•' rchandize imported
there, were their only poflible Supply : There only, or by Ex-
portaton from thence, could they find a Vent ior fo much of
their own Produce as they wifhed to difpofeof; and they were
thus by their Situation alone the Means by wl.ich Induftry, Na-
vigation, and Revenue, were fupported, Upon^ their Migra-
tion,,
^ tt
Pi'
^
V
I 'So 3
tion, this Neceflity«ceafed : They might then f'lpply themft' ^
from other Places j and give to Foreigners the Carriage, the Lie,
and the Advantage of their Produce. To prevent fuch a Perver-
fion, the Afts of Trade confine them in feveral Refpeds, and
to a certain Degree, only to the fame Circumftanc^? in which
their Fellow Subjedts continue ; and compel them by Law to
be as ferviceable to their Country, as they were before obliged
to be by Situation. Jind that exclufive Trade with their Colo-
nies, wh'ch is claimed with more or lefs Rigour by all the Eu-
ropean Powers, is not an injurious Monopoly eftabliflied by
Force; Vdt is a due Exercife of that indifputable Rigiit which
every £tate, in Exclufion of all others, has to the Services of its
own Subjedts. Nor was the Exercife of it ever fuf pofed to im-
ply an Exemption from Taxes : The Fadt has been otherwife
from the Beginning. The 15th C//. II. flridly forbids the Im-
portation of any European Goods into the Colonies except ft om
Great Britain i and all fuch Goods thereby became liable to the
half Subfidy retained on Foreign Merchandize exported from
hence ; which Merchandize, if confumed here, was in general
charged at that Time with no more than the whole of that Sub-
fidy. The Intercourfe however hetween our own Colonies be-
ing diredl, and the Produce rtf the one when introduced into the
other thereby eicaping all Cuftoms, a fim.iiar Charge v.as kid
•ipon that alfo by 25th C/;. II. and the moft valuable ^w^r/f^w
Produdions were fubjefted to the enumerated Duties, on their
Expdrtation from the Places of their Growth to other Colonies.
By 7th and 8th, fF. III. all the Cuftom-houfe Laws were ex-
tended to the Plantations. By 9th jinn, thofe of the Pofl-Of-
ficc were like wife eilabliflved there, accompanied with the ma-
ny Prohibitions, which are necelTary to fecure to Government
the exclufive Carriage of Letters, and then chargirig that Con-
veyance avowedly for the Purpofe of Revenue. By 7th G. I.
the JmportAtion of Ea/i-InJian as before of European Goods into
the Colojiies, except from Great Britain, was prohibited, and
theie alfo thereby incurred the Duties retained on the Exporta-
tion of them. By 2d G. II. the American Seamen were taxed
for the Suppoh of Greenwich Hofpital, and by 6th G. II. the
Produce
[ 8i ]
produce of Foreign Plantations imported into our own tf^s 1< id-
ed with heavy Duties. Prom this Enumeration it appears, that
there never was an Idea ofexempting the Colonies : On the con-
trary, Reftraints upon their T'rade, and Taxes on their Con-
fumption, have always gone together : And together compofe the
Syftem, by which they Iiave been conftantjy and happily go-
verned. It js is true that theic Duties were low : So Wefe the
Taxes in Great Britain, when thefe were laid ; and light as iLty
may feem at this Time, they were then heavier upon the Colo-
nies, and nearer in Proportion to fuch as were then levied licre,
than much higher Duties are now. Our Taxes hfiv^ been fince
encreafed many-fold : Their Abilities have been enlargjid ftili
fafter: And the great Augmentation of both \yas made by the
laft War : Our Debt is thereby almoft doubled : our Eftablifh-
ment is now much greater than it was ; and their Trade and
their Territory are at the fame Time vaitlv extended. The Pro-
portion between the public l.'urthens on the Mother-country and
the Colonies, as divided when they were in their Infancy, is en-
tirely loft: And to reftore that Proportion, and again to make
fomething hke a Partition of thofe Burthens, is no more than
maintaining the Syftem,- upon which we have always a<^ed, and
to which I own I am partial, becaufe the Colonies have ftourifh-
ed under it beyond all Exam,ple in Hiftory, an4 I, cannot prefer
vifionary fpeculations and novel Dodtrines to luch an fixperiencci
The Britijh Subjedis in AfJicridi are a great commercial People ;
Perhaps, (if this were a Time for the Difcuffion,) it might up-
on Examination appear, that they owe their Greatnefs to the ve-
ry Laws they complain of: But fuppoling the Reverfe, and ad-
mitting that if thefe Afts had not interfered, their Commerce
would have been more extenfive than it is : Can it be a Princi-
ple that no Country ought ever to be taxed, whofe Trade is not
carried fo far as it might be? Or if Reftraints upon 't'rade be
alone a Reafon againft Taxing, is it material by wh? " ^e^ns
thofe Reftraints are impofed ^ Surely the Confequence; are the
fame, whether a prohibitory Law, the Situation of the ConnXiy,
or any other Circumftance be the Caufe : And in this Lig!' t ma-
ny Inland Counties of this Ifland have a better Claim to an Ex-
emption
I
rr
[ 82 ]
tmptlon than the Colonies : Even the Inhabitants of Great Bri'
,tain at large have as good a Title: Far no Reftraint upon Trade
is more fevere or more efFe<9:ual, than Accumulation of Taxes {
they are oppreflive upon all Branches of Commerce* and fatal to
many j we are a<ftually at this Time precluded from feveral and
in danger of lofing more, on Account of the heavy Impofitions wc
.labour under: And Inability thus incurred is a better Plea than
any other for Favour and Relaxation : But after all, it is totally
indifFerent to this Queftion what the Means are by which a Peo-
ple acquires Wealth, or from what Means of acquiring it they
are debarred : The Extent not the Caufe of their Abilities is thJe
,only Confitderation : And tliat the Share of the Public Burthen
whi^la was allotted to the Colonies, was not diiproportianed to
-their Abilities, has been fliewn already.
If from what has been faid L appears, that no Principle of Finance
•or of Commerce forbids the Taxing of the Colonies for the Pur-
pofes of JRevenue only; it muft on the other Hand be admitted that
tlie Circumftances of this Country call for every Aid which any
of its Subjects can give ; And there was a peculiar Propriety in
requiring it from the Americans, who have contributed fu little,
and for whom fo much had been .doae : But I will dwell no
longer ,on a Subjeft, which has carried me already to a Length,
which its Importance only can excufe j and with the Remarks
Jt has fuggefted, I will conclude the Confiderations which have
occurred to me on th.e Conduit of the Adminiftration during the
Years 1764 and 1765^ with Re^edt to the Revenue and the
Trade of thefe Kingdoms : That of their Succeflbrs will not de-
tain ine To long; Tney have done but little : They have indeed
undone much i but if the former Meafures have been proved t9
be right, the R.everfe of them will require no very elaborate Dii-
cuflion: And a fhort Examination will fhew that the Mmilless
who made the Alterations, did not deviate in anj one Inft^oce
from the Plan of their Piiedeceirors, w^ithout doing Mifchief to the
Revenue; which Examination will be ftill {horter, and th.e Com-
parifon of the Meafures more eafy, if I conform as nearly as I
,can to the Method alf^ady obferved in ilating the feveral Parti-
culars.
The
[ 83 ]
The Plaft for paying ofF the public Debt has, with Refped to
the Articles of it, been the fame : But there is a wide Dinerencc
with Refpedl to the Amount of the Debt difcharged in this and
the laft Year ; and lefs Care has been taken to prevent its accu-
mulating again.
The Liquidation of the German Demands was very nearly fi-
nifhed under the former Adminiftration, and the Paymen': of
them alfo far advanced ; as no more than 106,043/. 13/. ^d.-^
of the mifcellaneous Demands were unprovided for i to which
muft be ndded the third Inflalment of 50,000/. to the Landgrave
of HeJJ'ej which became due this Year.
The Navy Debt left outftanding laft Year was 2,426,915/. ys.
gd. and on 31ft D^ff-w^^r, 1765, it was 2,484,595/. ys. lod'.^
but the Difference is much greater th"*^ on theie States it feems
to be, for in the former is included an over-reckoning of
340,344/. js. <)d. which is now deduded J in comparing there-
fore the two Accounts, either the fame Deduftion muft be made
from the former, or the Sum df iu(fled muft be reftored to the
Jatter; and either way the Difference between them will be
398,024/. 7J. 10^.^, which is additional Debt contrad:ed in the
Year 1765, confifting partly of Arrears of the War, and partly
of Exceedings beyond the parliamentary Provifion for Re-build-
ings and Repairs. It is very well known that the Pra(flice of an-
nually accumulating the Navy Debt was ftrongly oppofed by the
former Adminiftration : But their Endeavours to reftrain it have
been ill fupported ; a large Sum appears in this Account to have
been expended before it was provided for : And though fo much
has been done towards repairing the Navy j and notwithftand-
ing the much greater Provifion now made for that Service -, ftill
I fear that we do not yet fee the End of the Navy Debt, which,
for the prefentis reduced as low as it well can be, the 1,200,000/.
voted this Year towards paying it off, being fufficient to dif-
charge all that was payable when the Account was made
up.
The Profped: is no better with Rcfped: to the Extraordinaries
of the Army, which inftead of approaching towards an Eftimate,
are thrown back into a greater Uncertainty than ever. Not that
M they
i
'CI
T
'A
,«■<
!/'
[84]
they will again amount to 479;o88/. los. td.^, which is the
Sum voted laft Seflion for difcharging them, a very large Pro-
portion of that Suiji being for the Remains of the War: But
even the current Expenc es will be uncontrouled, if better Care
be not taken of thofe in America ; the former Minifters had be-
gun to regulate them : And had given Orders to reftrajn the dif-
cretionaiy Powers exercifcd bpth by the military and civil Officers,
there, in the incurring of Ej^pence : but lately inftead of Aflur-
fjices that fuch Orders fliall be enforced, the Difficulty of com-
plying with them has been pleaded: And tho' pire<Stions were
fent to prepare Calculations of the ordinary Charges, from vv'hich
Eilimates might be. formed, and {parliament might know and
limit the Services i and thpfe Calculations were received many
Months ago j yet hq fuch Eflirnates have been produced j all.
the Licence introduced by the War, and which had not httn
corredted, ftill prevails ; and firft by Negledt, and afterwards by
Indecifion, the Uncertainty has been fo increafed, that not only
the Extent, but even the Nature of the Services is unknown :
the Change of Circumftances in the Colonies fuggefts an Altera-
tion : But is that Alteration to be made ? Are we ftill to proted-
their extended Frontier ? Or are the Troops to be removed into,
other Parts ? Or are they to be entirely withdrawn ? The Charge
will be very diffi;ren tin thefe different Difpofitions : And though
while Amefica was obedient, and a Revenue there was in view, thia
Country might undertake to repel the Hoftilities, or to purchafe
the Friend(hip of the Indians -, yet furely we fhall not now be fa.
ready to provide for that Service, which the Colonies alone ufed
to bear, out to which they now refufe to contribute : or at the
leaft we have a Right to know, whether the Service is to be
performed, what it will amount to, and who is to defray the
Expence.
The Extraordinaries of the Ordnance and the Nova Scotia^-
Debt do not fuggell any particular Obfervations : The former
amount this Year to 3 s, 061/. bs. id. and the latter to 8,008/..
12 J. yd. The Intereft alfo of the 1,000,000/. Exchequer Bills
which the Bank in 1764 contradted to circulate for two Years,,
ifr new brought to ac.couot, amounting to 51,763/.
. The
[85]
The Deficiencies of Grants are not in reality Co great as they
appear to be : For the Articles which properly fall under that
Defcrjption, vi;s. the Interell of the 800,000/. Exchequer Bills,
the Deficiency of the Coinage Diity, the Deficiency occafioned
by the French Prize Money not being fettled before the Cloie
of the Year, the Difference between the real and eftimated De-
ficiency of the I^and and Malt, and the Difference between the
Supply and Ways and Means laft Year, all together amount only
to 224,124/. js. od.\t but then no more than 3,296/. 6s, Sd.y,
of the African and American Duties wfe paid into the Exchequer
before Chrijlmasi not that the Prod".cc had falkn fo far fliortoif
the 72.000/. for which they were given : On the contrary Ac-
counts tranfmitted from fome of the Colonies fliewed the Nett
Receipt in them only to have been above 24,000/. and no Ac-
counts were yet arrived from the Leeward I/lands^ Dominica^ Eajl-
Florida, Georgia^ or Bermudas. As to the Duties on Gum Senq-
ga, and the Regulations which accompanied them, they did not
take Place in Time to catch the Seafon for that Trade ; but both
the 12,000/. charged upon them, and the 60,000/. charged upon
the American Duties, were given at large out of the Produce
whenever it ftiould arife, and not confined to the Year 1765;
fo that the whole will come in: But as 68,703/. I3,j'. 3</.r, was
at Chriflmas wanting in the Exchequer to compleat the Sums fof
which thefe Duties were given, it was thought proper to vote io
much as a Deficiency ; and to apply the Monies ^ready raifed
but not paid in, and thofe which are ftill to be raifed under the
Vote of laft Year, to the Service of the prefent : In Confequence
of which the Deficiencies of Grants appear to be 292,828/. 4</.|
The Deficiencies of Funds confift of thf. following Articles ;
Deficiency of Annuity Fund 1758 —
Deficiency of Annuity Fund 1763 —
Navy Annuities — —
Charges of Management of faid Annuities >
for 2 \ Years — — J
45»56i
29,21 J
139*342
4,898
7
12
d.
I of
6
4
14 9^
Navy Annuities froia 29th September 1765, 1 g g ^
to 25th December
7i
M 2
227,722 15 ii
' The
hP
k
[ 86 ]
The Ainounl on this State of them is lefs by near 10,000/. than
it was in the preceding Year j and if the Chrillmas Quarter of the
Navy Annuities advanced to compleat the Payment of 25 per
cent, upon them, be dedudted, as being no Part of the Charge
upon the Sinking Fund for 1765, the Account of which is doled
in OSlober ; then the Difference in the Deficiencies of Funds
between the laft and the preceding Year, is above 18,000/.
owing principally to the encreafed Produce of the Cyder Tax ;
and that Duty would have continued, as I have already obferved,
to be upon an Average a much more efficient Fund than it was
at firft : But it is repealed ; and others lefs productive are
fubftituted in its Head, as I fhall have Occafion to fliew more at
large hereafter.
The faving on the Head of Deficiencies by the Payment above-
mentioned of 25 ^fr f^«/. on the Navy Annuities, will however
appear in the next Account : And that wife Plan for reducing
tr-.e Funded Debt, has been followed exadlly this Year, a further
Surn of 870,888/. 5/. ^d.\y being given for that Purpofe : In-
cluding this, the Account of Debt funded and unfunded which
has been difcharged and provided for in the Supplies for 1766,
ftands thus : . ■• • .
Mifcellaneous Gnman Demands —
Reafonable Succour to the Landgrave o^Heffcy
Navy Debt — — —
Army Extraordinaries — —
Ordnance Extraordinaries — —
Deficiencies of Grants ■— —
Deficiencies of Funds '^'"S' " — —
Towards paying off Navy Annuities
Nova Scotia Debt — ——
Jntereft of Bank Exchequer Bills —
io6^(
043
50000
1,200,000
479,088
35»o6i
292,828
227,722
870,888
8,co8
5'»763
$.
13
o
10
6
o
15
5
12
d.
8i
o
o
6f
2
li
7
o
Total Debt difcharged and provided for * 3,321,404 3 11
* The Articles provided for cannot in this Account be feparattd from thofe dif-
charged : But the Amount of them may be afcertaincd : As the Loan this Year is
fcr 1,500,000/. fo much of the Total 3,321,404/. 3J. 1 i</.f , has been provided
for, and the remaining 1,821,404/. 31. iid-i difcharged.
This
m
[ 87 ]
' This Sum is lefs than the Debt paid off and provided for in
the preceding Year by 576,164/. os. ^d.i, even allowing that
the jimerican and African Duties not yet received in the Exche-
quer, are to be confidered as deficient j but if that Deficiency
cannot ftridly be called a Debt, as there was a Provifion for
making it good, which is now applied to other Purpofes ; and
68,703/. 13J-. 3</.f (hould therefore be deduftcd from this Ac-,
count ; then the Difference in the Amount of Debt difcharged
and provided for in 1765 and 1766, will be no lefs than 644,868/.
though the Loan is as great, and the Sinking Fund greater this
Year than the laft.
The fame Quantity alfo of Exchequer Rills are outftanding,
and on the fame Terms : The Bank are to circulate 1,000,000/.
at 3 per cent, and the other 800,000/. will be difpofed of in Pay-
ments as ufual : So that in this Part of the Debt no Advance has
be.en made; there will be as many Bills in the Market, and the
Publick will pay as much for Intercft as before.
The Deficiency of Land and Malt though feparated from the
general Account of Debts difcharged, is ftill a Part of the Supply,
and is this Year estimated at 360,000/. which is the higheft: it
can be on any Calculation, and more than it probably will be,
ev^n in the prefent State of that Revenue : But when the Reduc-
tion of Intereft upon the Loan which was begun laft Year, fhall
have fully taken Place, a Saving will be thereby made of above
40,000 /. per Ann. and if the Land-Tax were reduced one Shil-
ling in the Pound, above 20,000/. per Ann. more would be
faved * : But this defireable Objesfl is now removed to a greater
Diftancc than it was : Many of the Meafures which tended to
prepare the Way to it, are over- turned j others are weakened;
and fome are diverted to diflferent Purpofes : The Confequence
of which is that the Burthen is continued upon the Land-hold-
ers; and the Charge of Intereft upon the Publick will, in this
Refpe<5l, remain undiminiihed. Thus the Deficiency of Land
and Malt, and the Deficiencies of Funds, the Navy and the Ar-
my Extraordinaries will all be greater than they would have been
* I fuppofe in both Inftances tliat the Money borrowed is outftanding a Year
and an Half, which is cci tainly a moderate Allowance.
under
!'
'1; ^
r
i'
M
I'/
In
if '
[ 88 ]
under the former Adminiftration, and furely the Minifters were
not intitlcd to be more free to incur Debt, who had donefo much
lefs in difcharging it.
That fo httle has been done, is owing to the Encreafe of the
Eftabliihment, to the Diminution of the Revenue, and to the
Want of Adtivity or AbiUty to find fuch Sums and Funds, as'
might by proper Management be made applicable to the publick
Service. With Refpedt to the Eftablifhment, the Augmenta-
tion is general, as will appear by ftating the feveral Particulars.
The Money voted for Naval Services, exclufive of the Navy
Debt, are as follows :
832,000 o o
412,983 6 3
277,300 o o
1 6,000 Seamen, including 4287 Mariners
Ordinary of the Navy — •—
Buildings, Re-buildings, and Repairs
1,522,283 6 3
The ufual Provifion for Greenwich Hofoital was unneceflary
this Year, there being Money fufficient in hand to anfwer all im-
mediate Purpofes : Nor was there any Occafion to apply to Par-
liament on account of the Lazaret, that Building not being yet
begun, and confequently the Money alieady given rem.uning
uniflued : but neither of thefe are permanent Savings ; tiiC Ser-
vices are only omitted in the prefent, and will be reftored in fub-
fequent Years : So that the Eftablifhment is in fadt larger by
10,000/. than on the above Account it appears to be, and ex-
ceeds that of laft Year by 81,316/. lys. 6d. The principal Aug-
menta^tion is in the Re-buildings and Repairs, to which yy,^^'
arc added : An Addition, which feems to nie abfolutely need-
lefs, as there are already betwee/i fixty and feventy Ships of the
Line in complcat Repair : To man thefe and a proportionable
Number of Frigates, Sloops, and fmaller VefTels, would require
rear 60,000 K!en,, and if a War fhould break out, the 16,000
born on the prefent Eftablifliment could not in feveral Months
ht raifed to that Number ; all which Time the Repairs would
proceed -, ami Ships would confUntly be ready, before Men could
be
•-■^ '<ar ■^-
[ 89 1
be procured for them. To provide more than can be employed,
is not only an immediate Expence which the Occafion docs not
call for: but an annual Charge is thereby incurred for keeping
fo many in repair ; and the Ordinary of the Navy is alfo raifcd
by the Number: The Eftablilhment of the laft Year was very
large : It appears to have aeen fully adequate to the Service :
And I know no Reafon for encreafing it.
The Bounty to Navy Chaplains, which was a feparate Article
of Supply, is now included in the Ordinary: And in the Efta-
bliftiment of the Army, the African is incorporated^ into the
Plantation Service, and the Horie- guards reduced into the Half-
pay. This being premifed, the Sums voted for the Army appear
by the following State of them to be little different from thole of
laft Year, except that another Irijb Regiment is taken into Bri-
tijli Pay, and that the reduced Officers of fome particular Corps
iare on Account of their peculiar Circumftances raifed to full Pay^
The whole Account ftands thus.
Guards and Garrifons - ' -
Plantations, Minorca y Gibraltar » and Africa
Gene a1 and S^tafF Officers
Reduced Officers -. - _
Chclji Hofpital - -
Penfioi to Wide vs ' *- -
Difference between Britijh and IriJIi Pay
Full Pay to reduced Officers
The Reafon of the Increafe on this Head having been given,
BO other Obfervation arifes upon it. The Provifion for the Ord-
nance Service is alfo enlarged, it being now 180,445/. 19^. 3</.,
the chief Caufe of which is fome new Works in Jamaica, of the
Propriety and Extent of which Expeuc% I can form no Judg-^
Bif.nt. -...('■
.• . ., ..- . .' The)
605,608
s.
19
9
394.505
11,291
138,674
109,875
I
8
16
3l.
8
1,614
- 7.993
II
6
4
8
1,275,281
4
3t
V
^u
\ji
.•.KSii:;^;,-*
^.-nifVfWrSi^-aii^ -~*y
UNI
■^%
^.
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
&
^/
A
^
/
A-
•^,,%
%"
1.0
ItilM |2.5
^ K^ 12.2
^ 114
us
1.1 fv^i
11:25 i 1.4
2.0
IJ4
1.6
■V3
/.
'/
Fteigrapliic
^Sciences
Corporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) S72.4503
^v
k
1
V
^
•1>'
\\
■<*.
;\
^.
>.
■<!V'
4<.
6
^
m
[ 9° ]
The other mifcellaneous Articles of the Supply arc ;
£' s. d.
* Pay and Cloathing of the Militia - 150,000 o o
Brittjh Mufeuni - - - . 2,000 o o
For Nova Scotia - - - 4,866 3 5
For Georgia - - - 3*986 o o
Eajl Florida '- ^ •■ >•».'•.. - 5*250 o
Wejl Florida - - > ; .••; . 5*300 o o
General Surveys of -^/w^r/ftf - *- •» ,': ,1*784 4 Q
To the African Committee - - 13,000 o o
For the civil Eftablifliment on the Coaft of -<^/r</ 5*550 o o
For the Foundling Hofpital ->■ r / ^* • 33*892 10 p
.'■'X\':.
225,628 ly 5
In almoft every Article of this Account which could be al-
tered, an Alteration has been made for th^ worfe : The Militia
and the African Committee are fettled Services, and remain as
they were : The Diminution in the Expence of the Foundling
Hofpital is in confequence of the Meafures taken formerly for get-
ting rid of it entirely : And the only Savings are in that and in
the civil Eftablifliment of Nova Scotia : On every other Head
there is an Increafe ; and Room has been found for fbme poor
defpicable Pittance of Extravagance in Services which would not
admit of a large Augmentation j the Amount of jnany fuch is
not indeed very great ; but when this Difpofition to fwell the
national Expence pervades every Branch of the fupply, it is an
alarming Symptom of a general Relaxation in the whole Syftem,
and every Demand, every Pretence, becomes the Foundation of
a Charge upon the Publick. The feveral Additions to the Efta-
blifhment a^lually voted in fpecific Sums, amount to no lefs
all together than g^^^jol. 6s. 4^. And in other Articles of
annual Expence which cannot be exatSly defined, fuch as the
Navy Debt and the Extraordinaries of the Army, inftead of
Attention and Stridtnefs, Negledt and Conceflion have prevailed :
The Funds will be lefs produdive than they were; in confe-
* I havo throughout flated the Militia at the ShiA voted for it, which is the
only Rule for me to go by : Though the Expence of that Corps is probably not
the fame as it thus appears to be : Hut it cannot be alcertained till a compleat Ac-
count is made our, which has not }et been done.
quence
a
IS
g
n
d
ir
»t
s
c
n
i>
)f
s
ft
;
t 91 ]
•fluence of the Repeal of the Cyder Tax j and a Redudllon in the
Deficiency jf the Land and Malt by a Reduftion of the Land-
Tax, is poft-poned to that very diftant Day, when the Revenue
thus over-charged, and at the lame Time, as will prefently ap-
pear, miferably impaired, will allow of fo great a Diminution.
Againft this Wafte of the publick Treafure, it is ridiculous to
fet in Balance the fingle faving made this Year in the whole Efta-
blifhment ; there is but one ; and that is of only 45/. i is. 6d.
m the Civil Government of Nova Scotia. Another indeed was
attempted in the Militia: There was an Inclination to be fparing
of the public Money for the fupport of that conrtitutional
Corps, which would have been weakened and difcouraged by
the intended Redudlion of Serjeants, and by depriving the Men
of the Perquifite of their Cloathing : But this Attempt happily
failed : And in no other Infcance did the Minifters lall Seflions
fhew any Symptom of Frugality : The Decreafe in fome Articles of
the Supply being as I have already fhewn the Confequence of
f jrmer Meafures, in which they can pretend to no other Merit;
than the having in Contradid:ion to themfelves adopted fomc
Parts of a Syftem, the whole of which they condemned.
The feveral Particulars of the Supply for the year 1766 hav-
ing been flated, the Account of the whole flands thus,
Debt provided for •' -
Debt difcharged
Exchequer Bills
Deficiency of Land and Malt
Navy
Army - * - • •
Ordnance - -
Mifcellaneous Articles
s.
1,500,000
1,821,404
1,800,000
360,000
1,522,283
1,275,281
180,445
225,628
3
o
o
6
4
19
17
d.
o
III
o
o
3
3t
3
5
• • • Total 8,685,043 II 14.
If from this profufe Supply we turn our Eyes to the Revenues
which are to fupport it, we (hall not only mifs the Improvements
which are due, but fee eftabliftied Funds diminiftied, and further
Refources prevented : The Ways and Means for the prefent Year
contain fome Inilances, and lead the Enquiry to others : I will
N therefore
11
Iff.
>£■
ti
f 92 ]
fhereforc endeavour firft to give a State of them, and according:
to the beft Information I can procure^ they are as follow.
Land and Malt — — — »— . 2-, 750,000
Kxchequer Bills ■■ ■- ' — — J-, 800,000
Militia Money — — — 8o,ooO
Part of the Compofition for French Prifoncrs — 181 ,000
Army Savings
Money remaining of the laft Year's Grant for /Ifrican )
Companies ■ 3
Ditto of the laft Grant for the Foundling Hofpital
j^merican Revenues •— — •
Duties on Gum Senega ^—— —
Out of the Produce of the French Prizes —
From the Sale of Land in the ceded Iflands —
Annuidcs and Lottery
74.777
1,167
s.
o
o
o
o
H
d.
o
o
o
o
o
14 loi
Sinking Fund gived for
60,000
12,000
29,000
20,000
1,500,000
2,150,000
10
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
c
o
O'
o
o
o
Total 8, t»6o, 2 66 18 lo*
The Land and Malt, the Exchequer Bills, and the Militia Money,
require no particular Notice J the Duties on Gum Senega are
not liable this Year to the Difappointment of the laft. The Sav-
ings on the African Companies, and on the Foundling Hofpital;
Accounts, are but Overplus of the Grants for thofe Services in
1765. The Army Savings are only upon the Pay ; and the Pro-
duce of the French Prizes was before in a Courfe of legal Pro-
ceeding ; none of the Money expeded from thence was paid in-
laft Year ; the Deficiency thereby occafioned is provided for in-
the Deficiencies of Grants : But a Part now atflually has been, ot
at leaft is ready to be paid : And therefore 29,000/. is taken
again on that Head in the Ways and Means for the prefent Year.
The Compofition of French Prifoners, and the Sale of Lands
in the ceded iflands, were Meafures of the former Miniftry ; and
the Publick therefore avails itfelf of thofe Aids now without any
Obligation to their Succeflbrs : But it refts upon them to fhew
why more is not on both Accounts applied to the Service. The
Compofition made in 1765 did not include the Prifoners taken in
the Eali-Indies or in Germany ; yet the Demands for thefe do not
appeaf to have beei) either of them fince fettled ; and there is
too mnch Reafon to doubt, that as that was I believe the firft.
V«->i-w. _^.
1 1 %. \
I 93 1
lb it will be the laft In fiance of Money recovered from Fratice
by this Country. With Ilefpeft to the Produce of the Lands ia
the ceded Iflands, the firft Sale which was held about Twelve
Months ago, produced above 127,000/. There has by this Time
been another : Upon both, the Purchafers pay 20 per cent, at
the Time of Sale ; and 10 per cent, within the Year; 30 per
€ent. therefore muft have been received on the Firft, and 20 on
the Second j and the Expences of the Conimiflion cannot be fo
great as to reduce thefe Inftalments to 20,000/. at which Sum
they are computed.
The Loan of this Year agrees with that of the laft only in the
Amount : But the Terms upon whicii it is made are much v/orfe ;
and the Duties which compofe the Fund are far more burthen-
fome. The Plan of it is indeed taken from the former omitting
the Option of Survivorfliips : Three-fifths therefore are in re-
deemable Annuities, and Two-fifths in a Lottery, all at 3 per
cent, but the Circumftances of the Publick are better now than
they were then, and it is on them that the Merit of a Bargain
<lepends : The Stocks were about 2 per cent, higher when the
latter was made : And an Advantage of fo much on the redeem-
able Annuities, is a Difference of i 4- per cent, upon the whole
Subfcription. But befides this, the redeemable Annuities bear
Intereft from the 5th "January laft, by which Means the Govern-
ment pays a double Intereft upon the whole 900,000/. for four
Months, and upon Part of it for Ten : For this Loan being intended
to reduce Debt now at 4 per cent, to three, the former Rate muft
go on, till the Payments enable the Government to difcharge the
Debt J and the firft Payment was not before 8th May^ and the
laft will not be till 1 5th November^ to which Time 4 per cent, is
•continued on fo much of the 1 , 500,000/. as is no' paid in, whilo
3 p r cent, is incurred from "January on 900,000/. whether paid
>in or not : by which Concurrence of Charges, the Intereft upon
the Sum of 1,500,000/. will at the End of the Year amount to
to 63,4.06/. \-js. td^\ whereas on the fame Sum laft Year it was
no more than 48,750, becauie then the 4 /"^r Cr;//. ceafcd and
tlie 3 per cent, commenced on the fame Day. The Difference of
14,656/. 17J. bdJf is an unneceffary Expence to the Public, when
•a Diminution rather than an Increafe of the Charge might have
been expected : And it is at the fame Time an additional Profit
to tlie Subfcribers of very near i percent, which with the Advan-'
N 2 tags
-J —iJlV:
[ 54 ]
ii I
tage ahove-mentioncd'of if, makes their Bargain abore 2 /?f
f^fi^. better than that of 1 aft Year, cxclufive of the Facilities which
the Lightnefs and the Diftance of the Payments gives them, and
which the Nature of t^.e former Subfeription of Navy Bills would
rot admit of: The whimfical Miftakcs of fixing the fccond Pay-
ment on a Sunday, and the firft Payments on the Annuities and
on the Lottery upon different Days, have indeed thrown this
Part of the Scheme into fome Perplexity J hut ftill the Conve-
nience is confiderable, and the othfjr Profits are thereby both
encrcafcd and fecured. In Anfwer to all this, it is faid, that the
Terms of the former Loan were too hard, fo that the Subfcri-
bers loft by it : A Charge indeed of no great Weight, as th»
making of loo good a Bargain for the Publick is not a very com-
mon or a very heinous Offtnce, and in this Inftance it cannot
be univerfally true j becaufe the Subfcrioe/s were exadlly even
who fold their Tickets for 1 1/. igs. and Tickets were before the.
Drawing at all Prices between u/. 12s. td. and 12/. 10/. td.
if all therefore had been difpofed of at the loweft Price, the Sub-
fcribers would have loft no more than v^ per cent.; but now,
without taking the Profits made by thofe who fold at the higher
Prices into Confideration, and only becaufe fome might lofc i ^
per cent. ; an Advantge of above two per cent, is given to all
the Subfcribers of this Year over thofe of the laft : And for that
Purpofe the Public is put to an extraordinary Expence of near
1 5,000/. in borrowing the fame Sum, with equal Aid in both
Cafes from a Lottery, and when the State of the Finances and
of the Stocks were far more favourable to fuch an Operation at
the one Time than at the other.
The Difference between the two Tranfa<^ions appears ftill
more confpicuoufiy upon comparing the Funds created on each Oc-
cafion : The Duties which compofed the Fund of laft Year have
been already Ihewn to fall chiefly upon Foreigners, to be rather
beneficial than detrimental to Trade, and there has not been a
Surmife of their being deficient, when they ftiall have fully taken
Place : but the additional Tax upon Windows is an Impofition
upon thofe who had a better Claim than any others to an Exemp-^
tion from further Burthens, and the Produce will certainly be
greatly Ihort of the Annuities charged upon it : To prove this
and
[ 95 J
iiid to prepare the Way for fuch other Obfervations as the fub-
jedt fuggefts, I will firft (hew in one View the Number of
Houfes and of Windows, and the Amount of the Duties upon
each, both before and fince the paffing of the A(ft of this Seflions,
The following is a State of them.
Chiri;eu'
Chirge It
?
.5
Chirge urderl
Number
dsrthefar
preleni
1 .!
Che former iChirge at pre
Kiimbrr of
of Win-
mer AAi
.er Win
Afii ret
font per
Encicafr.
Huvfei.
dow! pe>
Houfe.
per Win
dow.
p
!.■
Houfe.
Houfe.
dow.
t. d
• . d.
d.
4.
1. •. d.
1. t. d.
i. d.
400,273
7
2
2
000
12
I 2
9.336
8
Z
6
6
080
040
29.37«
9
I
8
4
090
6
15,564
10
I
10
2
10
8 4
4*^'247
11
I
1
,
II
II
6.358
12
' 6
I 2
4
18
14
9.230
'3:
1 6
« 4
2
19 6
17 4
25,3^4
14.
I 6
I 6
c
II
r; I
6,994
15
1 6
I 6
I 2 6
126
6,951
16
I 6
1 6
I 4
.1 4.
7.'59
»7
1 6
I 6
' 5 6
1 5 6
8,070
18
1 6
I 6
I 7
I 7"
H1213
»9
1 6
I 6:
186
I 8 6
4.'35
20
I. 6
.» 7
1
I 10
i.ii< 8
I- 8.
3,262
2'1
I 6
I 8
2
I II 6
I 15
3 6
3,100
22
I 6
I 9
3
I 13
I 18 6
5 t
2.9S»
23
I 6
I 10
4
I 14 6
222
7 8
3,091
• 24
' I 6
I II
5
I 16
260
10
2.964
25
1 6
X
6
I 17 6
2 10 12 6
Decruf*.
d.
O
4
3'
8
o
o
2'
O ■
o
o-
o
o
o
o
o
o>
o
o
The Number of Houfes having 26 Windows and upwards does.-
not appear: But the Number of Windows in fuch Houfes is
known to be 1,340,292 which are all raifed alike to 2s. from
u. 6d. ^fr Window :, In Houfes below that Point, the Rates
generally vary accot ding to the Number of Windows, and there*
fore in moft of them the flopping up of one Window will be the
Means not only of faving the Duty upoij that one, but alfo of
lowering the Rate upon all the others : The Temptation has been
found to be irrefiftable upon every additional Window Tax,
wherever the Line has been drawn, thofe immediately above have
endeavoured to get below it ; and this is the Reafon that the
Houfes containing feveo, nine, eleven, fourteen and nineteen Win-
dows are fo much more numerous than thofe of eight, ten, twelve,
fifteen.
? \
f
■ fi
i
u
{ 96 ]
fifteen, and twenty, the Lines having been drawn at different
Periods between thofe feveral Numbers : But by 2d G. III. this
Muhiplicity of Divifions wac taken away, and only one left be-
tween Houfes of eleven and of twelve Windows, all below pay-
ing I J-, and all above u. 6d. per Window; 7/he Difproportion
therefore in the Number of Houfes on each Side of that Line is
as 48,247 to 6,994 • -At ^^^ hms Time, as the Tax then flopped
entirely at Houfes of eight Windows, all that could be were
brought down below that Point, and therefore the Number of
Houfes having feven was encreafed to 400,273. By the Adl of
this Seflicns, thofe of feven are included -, the confequence of
which will be that the major Part of them will be reduced to
fix : And the Temptation is alfo extended to a great Variety of
-Perfons, who before could not attempt to get below the only
Line then drawn, and therefore could avoid the Charge only up-
on fuch Windows as they doled ; but now that fourteen Claflbs
are eftabliflicd inftead of two, mod of the Houfholders in Eng-
land may by flopping up one Window defcend to a lower Clals,
and thereby make a Saving upon all the others: Thus by fhut-
ing one in ten, 3/. 8d. infleadof u. j or one in twenty-five, 4J.
■inftead of if. 6</, j or two in eleven, 5J. inftead of is. ; or two
in twenty-four, ys. 6J. inftead of 3J. may be faved ; and in the
iame Manner through all the others proportionably : Paft Expe-
rience of the Extent to which fuch Oeconomy will operate, for-
bids us to flatter ourfelves that when the Temptations are mul-
tiplied they will be lefs attended to, and whatever the EfFedl may
.be, it is in Diminution of the Produce notonly of thefc, but alfo
of the former Duties : Thefe are calculated at 53,3 1 o/. lys. 2d.
»on a Suppofition that not one Window will be clofed to evade
the additional Charges: But if on the contrary one Window in
-every Houfefliould be flopped, the whole Tax will be annihilated,
as fuch a Saving will altogether amount to 53,813/ ijj-. \od.
and though the Pradice fhould not be univerfal, it will certainly
prevail fo far as to caufe c. great Deficiency j to what Extent, I
muft leave upon the above Calculations to the Conclufions which
every Man will form, who remembers former Occafions. But
it is faid that fome of the Rates being reduced, many Perfons
'will now open thofe Windows which they had fliut before;
jthis is to fuppol€ that men^ who have been at fome Expence in
order
'\,
I 97]
mdcr to avoid, will now be at a greater on purpofc to Incur an
tnnual Charge : For ftill no Man can open a Window (except
in Houfes having from 14 to 19 or above 25) without raifing the
Rate on all the others : And none will chufe to pay 4^. bccaufe
he muft pay is. id. or raife his lis. to I4f. rather than reduce
it to 8/. 4</. for one Perfon who will thus thruft himfelf into a
higher Clafs by opening, there will be hundreds who will retire
into a lower Clafs by flopping up a Window.
By this Specimen of their Abilities, the Talents of the lafl
Minifters in finding Ways and Means, feem equal to thofe which
they fhewed in planning the Supply : I* was Extravagance in
the one : Deficiency in the other. And this Tax fo far as it may
be produdtive, though always advanced, and fometimes born by
the Tenant, yet will often be ultimately paid by him who pays
Four Shillings in the Pound already : Thofe who live on the In-
lereft of a perfonal Eftate, or on the Earnings of t'.eir Induftry,
are generally free from Charges upon the Means of their Subfift-
ance : while the landed Men are taxed not in their Confumption
Only, but alfo in their Income y they bear a burthen now heavier
than ufual in Times of Peace : They have born it long ; the
Profpedl of a Diminution is more uncertain than it was : And at
the very Time that the expedled Relief has by Mifmanagement
been removed to a greater Diilance, another Impofition is laid
Upon them; a perpetual is added to an annual Land-Tax; and
the latter is more unequal than the former, as it falls princi-
pally upoii thofe whofe Edates are in Houfes, which are in them-
fclves the worft Eflates of any, and the Support of which is al-
ready under fufficient Difcouragements : The Expences attend-
ing them, and the accumulated Load upon landed Property, and'
upon this Species of it particularly, co-operating with the other
Taxes, have been in a great Mealure the Caufc of uniting Farms,
depopulating the Country, and enhancing the Price of Provi-
fions. The EfFed has been fo great, that inftead of 986,482
tvhich was the Number of Houfes in England and IVales no
longer ago than the Year 1759, there are now but 980,692,
and the DeftriuSion of 5,790 * in fo fliort a Space as eight Years,,
JKi.'j
'>,-'ii .'. V'.n 10
J.', ir."
ift<
•* The Deftruf^bn in the Country muff oe greater than on this Account it jp-
peari tobe j Pbrt of it being ballanced by the new Buildings in ffeftminliir which
' 1
' I
./■ ;
[98I
is fuch a Symptom of DiArefs sindDepopulation,aslorequireeve<i'
ry Attention to check the Progrefs of the Evil, and to avoid any
Meafures which may ace Pirate or encreafc it : Relief to the land-
ed Intereft is now no longer the Concern of the Individuals only
who are to receive .that Aelief, but is iiecome an important na-
tional Confideration.
If however a Window Tax, becaufe payable by the Tenant,
■is to be confidered.as actually born by him, then the additional
Puty falls upon the Inhabitants of Houfes having feven or more
than twenty Windows : 'Near half of it is intended to he raifei
upon the former: That therefore will be paid by Labourers and
'Handicraftfmen : And as Manufadures ar« either carried on in
large Buildings erei^led for the Purpofe, or in the private Houfcs
of the Workmen, which are very generally thofc of about feven
Windows, the now Duty will in the one Place or the other, and
perhaps in both, light upon Manufadlures : In this Refpedt it
differs from the Duties impofed laft year, which were even bene-
ficial to them : It differs too in another, that inflead of affe(5ling
principally l^oreigners^ and none but the rich, a large Proportion
of the Burthen is thrown upon one of the lowed Ranks of the
People : And it is fallacious to fet the Alleviation given to others
by diminidiing fome of th« former Duties, as a Ballance againil
this new Impoiition : For in the whole Kingdom no more than
*.69,8(J6 Houfes will be benefited by all the Redudtions^ 1 17,016
remain as they were : The Rate is higher than it ufed to he on
all the reft: Aqd of the Revenue expedted from the whole,
23,349/. 5/. 2d. is intended to be levied upon a Clafs of Mea,
who are poorer than anyof thofe relieved by the Alterations, and
who have never -been before comprehended in this Species of
Taxation.
All the Jlmerican Revenues now left do not mucli exceed the
new Duty thus.laid upon the Poor of this Country j for though
60,000/. be given out of thofe Revenues in the Ways and Means
forthe prefent Year, yet that is not the fuppofed annual Produce,
but is a Sum made up of all fuch Monies remitted from the Colo-
liies as were remaining in the Exchequer for the Difpofitiop of
•re taken into a genera] Account of the Houfes in the Kingdom: If -thefe were
■dedudted from the Ballance, the Number deflroyed in the Country would be feen
40 be Biuchniore than 5,790.
■ '' . ' J- ' Parliament,
J> T^™--. >».
» I t. ^
[ 99 1
Parliament, and as fliall be paid into the faid Reccit before 5th
^pril 1767. It has been already -'^fcrvcd that above 24,000/.
nett were received in America before lOth OSlober laft, exclulivc
of all which might have been raifcd in the Leeward Iflands, Eaji
Florida, Georgia, the Bermudas and Dominica: When the Ac-
counts from thofe Places come in, the Produce of 1765 will pro-
bably appear to have been about 27,000/. or 28,000/. ; of which
little more than 3,000/. were applied to the Services of the Year
in which they were raifed ; above 23,000/. are made over to the
Ways and Means of the prefent Year, and are part of the 60,000/.
above-mentioned. The reft of that Sum is at the leaft five Quar-
ters further Recelt, fuppofing that none received in the Plan-
tations after Chrijimas 1766, will be paid into the Exchequer be-
fore 7th April 1767; the annual Produce therefore is not now
eftimated at 30,000/. which is little more than w^s raifcd by the
import Duties in the firft Year, which is always deficient ;* and
there can be no Reafon for rtating them fo low now, unlefs on a
Suppofition that they will be diminiftied by the Alterations made
in them : A Suppofition, which however denied in Words is by
this Ertimate in reality avowed, and which will be eafily account-
ed for by confidering thofe Alterations : The principal Redu<flion
is in the Duty upon foreign MolafTes, which is lowered from 3(/.
to id. per Gallon : When it was laid two Years ago, the ff^>Jl»
Indians urged an Impofition of 4</. as neceffary to fecure the Pre-
ference due to Britiflj MolafTes : The "North Americans dcfired it
might be no more than 2d. which they thereby acknowledged
their Trade could bear : A Medium was therefore taken between
the two : But now the Duty is reduced below the loweft of them :
More is given than was asked for before; and on the other Hand,
the Preference intended to the Produce of Britijh Plantations is
totally taken away, the prefent Duty of one Penny being laid in-
differently on all Molafles whatfoever. The Reafons alligned for
fo great a Diminution of Revenue, are commercial Confiderations :
But be they ever fo cogent, admitting all the Inconveniencies to
Trade which can be fuppofed to attend the Three-penny Duty, it
does not follow that Two-pence would have been too much : No
Experience is againft it j on the contrary, the Trade has increaf-
ed and flourifhed under a Charge exceeding a Penny, for fo much
♦ The Deficiency upon thefe muft have been greater than ufual in the firft Year
of a Tax, from the Nature of the Duties, and from the Difcontents and Diforders
in America,
O the
)/■
s:.
i
i
i
,[ 100 ]
the Expcnce of Smuggling always amounted to j and furcly now
that it is cftabliflicd, Two-pence would not be oppreflive.
This Indulgence to the North Americam is accompanied with
another to the tVeJl-Indianiy to which, almoft from the firft Set-
tlement of their Iflands, they have been Strangers; the old enu-
merated Duties laid in the Time of Charles the Second upon Su-
gars exported being now taken away : And whatever the Amount
may be, it is fo much Lofs to the Britijh Revenue. There have
been alfo other Alterations made, which fo far as they extend,
are all in Diminution of Revenue : I, mean the taking off the
Duties upon Coffee and Pimento of Britijh Growth, and upon
foreign Coffee, Indigo and Sugar, imported into the Colonies
with a View only to be exported ; but the Lofs on thcfe will, I
apprehend, be very incon/idcrable, becaufe I do not expedt that
any great Quantises of fuch Commodities will be conveyed to Eu-
rope through .he Channel'thus intended to be opened for them.
The Produce of our own Colonies which will be carried to other
Colonies of our own, in order to be brought hither, muft be ve-
ry trifling: As to the Produce of the foreign Iflands, if we could
get the Carriage of them, it would be a valuable Acquifition : But
the French know the Importance of it : They are in PofTeflion ;
they will endeavour to prcferve it ; and they have the Means of
preferving it. The procuring of Cotton by the fame Means is of
flill more Confeqaence, as that is a material of Manufadlure ; and
therefore every Encouragement which can be fliould be given, to
encreafe the Importation, and to leflen the Price of it. The Ex-
emption from Duties granted laft Seflion have a Tendency to that
End : But the Plan hitherto produced is very imperfed, becaufe
though it procures a temporary Supply to the immediate Want,
yet it retards at the leaft, if it does not entirely prevent, the per-
manent Security which might be provided againft it; and while
it aHids the Manufactory at home, is prejudicial to the Colonies :.
for all facilities given to the Confumption of foreign Cotton, dif-
courages the Culture of it in the Britijh Plantations : The Soil
and Climate of the ceded Iflands are peculiarly proper for produc-
ing it ; and the Circumftances of firft Settlers naturally lead them.
to raife fuch a Commodity : But the neighbouring French Iflands
baVw got the Start of them in the Growth, and have now Advan->
■ : . -• ' tages
ISf.:
#/ ». ^
[ 101 ]
tages over them in the Sale, by having more Markets open to
them : To rcdify (o undue a Preference, a Bounty fhouUi be
given on the one at the fame Time that the Duties are taicen off
the othei : But that muft be the Work of fomc more provident
Adminiftration.
To compleat the State of the yimerican Revenues, the Repeal
of the Stamp-A£t muft be taken into Confide nion : A Subjedt
which for the Reafons I have already given I fliall not enter into :
which if properly treated, would require a very large Dilcufljon i
and which has been of late difcuflcd fo often ; the only Circum-
ftance to be taken notice of atprcfcnt ia the Lofs of the 100,000/.
defigned to be raifed by it, and which being added to the Dimi-
nutions above-mentioned in the Impoft Duties, fufficicntly ac-
counts for the Reduction of the American Revenues from 160,000/.
which they were intended fo be, to lefs than 30,000/. per Ann.
A Sum greatly ftiort of that propofed to be railed on the Inhabi-
tants of this Country by the new Window Tax only, in Addition
to all the former Burthens, which they have fo obediently, tho'
fo hardly, and fo long born, and which they muft continue to
bear. Such a Diftribution cannot be fupported on any Princi-
ples of Commerce or of Policy : Glaring Inequalities not only in-
difpofe the Minds of Men, but really leflcn their Powers: One Part
is thereby over- whelmed, not for the Benefit of the whole; for if
the Charge were juftly divided, none would be very fenfible of it :
And generally not for the Benefit even of thofe who are favoured,
who perhaps cannot follow the Purfuits which the others may
be forced to abandon, cannot fucceed to the Labours, the Ser-
vices, and the Ufefulnefs, which by the Partiality fliewn to them,
are loft to their Country. In the Empire of Great Britain for
Inrtance, all the Taxes fall upon that Part of her Dominions
where .he Manufadurers refide, and the Markets are held : Her
ftaple Commodities are loaded j all the Branches of her Trade
are hurt ; and many of them ruined : The Americans cannot fup-
ply the Lofs : They might indeed aflift to prevent it, by defray-
ing a Part of that national Expence which occafions the Diftrefs :
And in this View it appears to be a commercial Objed;, that the
Burthens of a State fhould be equally fpread over all the Subjefts
of it, according to their Abilities: But the laft Adminiftration
entirely deferted fo wife and equitable a Syftem : They might
O 2 , , have
K
}
.«
^ ai.
V
[ 101 :]
have rupported it, though they had given way to the Olyedions
taken, whether with or without fufficient Grounds, to the Mode
or the Subjects of any particular Tax j they ought to have pro-
vided that their Conceffions fhould not be in effed: partial Im-
munities : And when they promoted the Repeal of the moft
produdtive Amencan Duties, it was incumbent particularly upon
thofe to whofe Department the Management of the Finances be^-
longed, to propofe others which fhould have preferved the pro-
per Equality : The Colonies themfelves it has been faid always
profefled that they were ready to contribute in that which they
called the accuftomed Method, by Requifition of certain Sums
from each Province, to be levied by their own AfTemblies j it
has even bsen urged as an Objection to the Stamp- Adt, that it
was chofen as a Mode to raife Money in preference to another
which would have met with no Oppofition : And why is not that
other fubftituted now ? It will at no Time be received fo favour-
ably as when a fubfifting Charge is removed to make room for
it ? If there be a Difficulty in taxing the Colonies, that Difficul-
ty is encreafed by the Delay : The Americans will not be recon*
conciled to the Payment of Duties, by a longer Exemption from
them J nor will future Minifters ever have fuch an Opportunity
of railing a Revenue there : The very Mode of Requifition which
upon this Occafion has been recommendedasfomuch more eligible
than the Stamp Duties, will not hereafter have the Advantages
it is fuppofed to derive from the Comparifon : The Choice will
not feem an Indulgence : It will be unaccompanied with any
Favour : but will be confidered as a new Charge, inflead of &
Relief, and be obnoxious to all the Clamour which they wiH
raife whofe real Oppofition is to all Taxes upon the Colonies :
Many havt been talcen off this Year ; and every Reduftion wae a
Call upon Adminiftration to propofe fome other Impofitio^i : Eve-
ry Deficiency which their Meafures bccafioned, demanded a
Supply : And their whole Conduit with Refpedt to the Colo-
nies, laid them under ftronger Obligations than ever preffed upon
any other Minifters, to find the Means of raifing a Revenue in
America.
Another Inftance of the fame Kind, though to a lefs Extent,
Was the taking off from the Cyder Counties the Share of the
public Burthens which had been allotted to them, without re-
placing it by any other Charge upon thofe Counties ; a Principle
of
*•' >A
[ »03 ]
of Equality firft fuggefted a Tax upon them ; for all the former
Duties upon Cyder were levied on the Dealers and Retailers :
The Growers and the Makers were exempted : The Revenue
therefore arifing from thence was in a great Meafure paid bj the
Confumers of the Commodity in Places which do not produce
it : And the high Duties on Beer, on Malt, and on Hops, Ijy
almoft entirely upon them : They could drink no Liquor which
was not taxed j while the common Beverage in the Cyder Coun-
ties was free. This Inequality had been encreafed by the Addi-
tion in 1760 of a perpetual Duty of ^d. to the . lal Duty of
6d, upon Malt, and of 3/. per Barrel on ftrong Beer which was
charged with jr. per Barrel before. The Sum to be raifed by
thefe Duties was no lefs than the Intcrcft of 20,000,000 j any
additional Load upon the Beer Counties would have been Oppref-
fion : And a general Tax would have left the Inequality fubfift-
ing: When therefore a further Loan of 3,500,000/. became
neceflary, it was thought reafonable, that the greater Share of
the new Impoiitions fhould be laid upon thofe who had contri-
buted leaft to the Expences of the VVar : But ftill they were not
particularly chai'ged witli fo much as one half of the Burthen :
The Wine Duty bears the reft, and that is a general Tax : They
were ftill greatly favoured ; for though the Cyder Counties are
not equal to the Beer Counties in Number, Extent, or Abilities,,
and the fame Revenue cannot therefore be expelled from them j
yet the Difl^erence is not fo great as between 70,000/. which is
all that the Cyder-Tax was at firft given for, and more than it
ever produced i and above 830,000/. which is the Amount of
the Annuities and Charges of Management to be paid by the new
Duties upon Malt and Beer. But without entering into an un-
certain Calculation of the Proportion they bear to each other, the
Lenity ftiewn to the Cyder Counties will appear from another
Mode of Comparifon : Whoever makes his own Malt is allowed
to compound for the Duties at the Rate of Seven Shillings- and
Six-pence for every Perfon in his Family': Whoeve"- makes his own-
Cyder was allowed to compound at the Rate of Two Shillings
for every Perfon above eij^ht Years old : Children under that
Age are a numerous Part of the Inhabitants of the Country, and
ihey were in the one Cafe excufed, while in tl^ie other,, the In-
fant at the Breaft is counted : And at the fame Time the adluat
Poor in the Cyder Counties, whofe Teneinents were not rated at
above
'^l
.^VuixMl,
V
ti
[ 104 ]
above 40/, per jlun: and who did not n^ake above four Hogflieads
in a Year, were excufed both from the Duty and the Compofition ;
but in the Beer Counties the needieft Poverty gives no Claim to
an Exemption : ' o very great is the Difference between the fup-
pofed Values of the refpedlive Duties upon each Man's Confump-
tion ! fo much more favourably waS the Compofition colledted
on the one than on the other ! and fo very fmall a Share of the
public Burthen was born by the Cyder Counties, even while
the Tax fubfifted 1 now that it is repealed on Account of the
* Inconveniencies attending the Mode of coUeiSting it, the for-
mer Difproportion between them and the Beer Counties re-
turns : For the common Beverage of the Inhabitants of the for-
mer, that v/hich they grow or make themfelves, is totally ex-
empted : the Duties fubftituted in the Lieu of that which is
taken away, are i6j. 8^. p^r Hogftiead on all Cyder configned
for Sale to a Fadlor or Agent : 3/. per Ton on all which (hall be
imported, and 6s. p. r Hogfliead on all which (hall be made in
Great Britain and fold by Retail, or made and fold by Dealers
from Fruit of their own Growth : The firft and the laft of thefe
can hardly be deemed new Duties : They are rather Provifioiis to
* The Compounder was free from the Vifitation of the OfSccrs of the Excife :
And therefore the Maker, unlefs he was alfo a Seller of Cyder, was not expofed
to any uf thcfe Inconveniences ; but to prevent his evading the Duty due on fo
much as he might thinic proper to difpofe of, he was required to give Notice of his
Intention to fell, and in that Cafe only was the Excife Officer authorifed to come
upon his Premifes ; but he could enter no Room befidcs that into which he w?s
condu£led : He could gauge no other Caflc than that which was pointed out to him :
He could on no Pretence come again till again fent for : And he was obliged to
^ive a Certificate of the VeiTels he had examined, which was a San£lion for the
Removal of them. The Neccffity of procuring fuch a Certificate might Occafton
fome Trouble, and Delay : Other Inconveniencies might accidentally arife : But
none of them were vexatious or oppreflive : And when aggravated to the higheft,
they were not nearly equal to thofe to which the Grower of Hops muft always fub-
mit ; he muft give Nocice both of the Places where his Hops grow, and where
they are to be cured : He muft give a fecond Notice of the Time when he intends
to bag them : And his Ouft and his Storehoufes are at all Times expofed either by
Night or by Day, to the Search of the OfHcer : No Compofition is allowed to
(kreen him from the unwelcome Vifits of the Excifemen : VV hether he does or dof s
not fell he is equally liable : All Malfters, all common Brewers, all Diftillers are
in the fame or a worfe Situation : The Maker of Cyder was the only Seller of an
Excifeable Liquor, who could prefcribe a Time for the Vifit, and Limits to the
Examination of the Officer i and an Exciseman thus ftripped of his Power of
Search, is almoft as inoiTenfive as any other Collector of the Revenue.
fix
' .■!*««>•*''*^ *^ " A^iiAft''-
^eSEtii*-
*i K \
[ 105 ]
fix the former Duties upon thofe \yho have hitherto avoided them,
becaufe not literally within the Defcription of Perfons in u'hofc
Hands the Commodity was chargeable : The two others are ad-
ditional Duties, and like all other additional Duties will dimi-
nifli the Confumption j efpecially as the Liquor is rather a Luxu-
ry than a Neceflary in thofe Countries which do not produce it j
and being laid upon Cyder fold, and moft of that which is bought
being for the Ufe of the Beer Counties, the Charge is transferred
from the Cyder Counties to them, and the Difparity is thereby
rendered greater than ever. Nor will the new Duties yield upon
the whole near fo much as that which has been taken oft; which
on the Experience of the two Years that it fubfiiled, mufl be
reckoned 45,000/. at the leaft: Whereas of the new Duties, the
6s. per Hogftiead retailed though the moft: produdtive of them,
will not at the utmofl: produce 23,000/. f for that is more than
the Amount of fuch a Charge upon 76,602 Hogflieads which has
been upon an Average the Number annually charged with the
former Retail Duty: But that Number will be diminifhed by
the Decreafe of the Confumption ; and both the new and the old
Duties, will be thereby afFe<fted: The additional Duty upoa
Cyder imported will have a like Effedl : The other two will
hardly ballance this Lofs ; and therefore the Diminution of the
Revenue, by the Change of the Cyder Tax, cannot upon the
whole be fo little as 20,000/. at the lowefl: Computation.
The feveral Alterations made in the Revenue, during the laft
Adminiftration having been now mentioned, the State of theai
altogether is as follows i/,;, ■■. .,,.,,., ^^ ...,. , ,. ,
By the Encreafe of the Efl:ablifhment - 94,000 o o.
By the Diminution of the yfwmf^« Revenues 130,000 q o
By the Repeal of the Cyder Tax - - 20,000 o o-
\. fj"
'■y
n't •
(..'ii
244,000 o o.
Thefe are all fet down at Tefs than they probably will be : To''-
gether they amount to a Sum equal to the Intereft. of Eight Mil-
lions : And the EfFedl is the fame as if an additional Deot of fo
much had been incurred, without providing Funds for paying thfe
Intereft upoa it ; fo that the Nation has been in one Year^ and
ll
\
':''■: i
{ 106 )
in a Time of profound Peace, impoveriflied, (if confidercd in one
Way) 8,000,000/. in its Capital; or (if taken in the other) above
24.0,000/. fir A'ln. \w iis difpoleable Income-, by the Meafures
which the laft Minifters arc entitled to call pecuiarly their own :
For the Savings which may be brought againft this Lofs, were
made on the Man left them by thcirPredeccflbrs : Wherever that
has been followed, the Revenue has been i. proved j as in paying
oft another 25 /itT ff«/. of the Navy Annuities; and providing
again for 1,500,000/. Navy Bills > by the former of which
34,835/. loj. jd.l by the latter 15,000/. * Intereft has been
iaved, and both are upon exat^lly the fame Sums, in the very
"fame Species of Debt, and by the fame Mode of Proceeding, as
in the preceding Year. But even allowing to the laft Minifters
«11 the Merit they can claim for not having deviated in thefe two
Inftances from the Meafures of the former Adminiftration j and
adding to fuch Savings, all that the Window Tax may produce,
which cannot be a great Acceffion, though it is impoffible to fay
how little it will be j yet this only proves that the Revenue which
ought to have been improved by 50,000/. is worfe by near
200,000/. than it would have been in other Hands: Which is in
Effe<^ the fame as a Diminution of 244,000/. ; whereas under the
former Adminiftration it was vifibly encreaied above 400,000/. in
two Years, which is at the Rate of above 200,000/. per Ann. fo
that the Difterence between the two Adminiftrations in their Ma-
nagement of the Revenue is more than 400,000/. a Year.
By fo much as the Eftablilhment is encreafed, or the Income
of the Public leflened, the Ability of the Sinking Fund to clear
off the national Debt is impaired, as there will be fo much lefs
applicable to that Purpofe, though the adlual Produce fhould con-
tinue to be as great as it is : In the laft Year it exceeded what it
had been in the former ; for though the difpofeable Money on
10th OSiober 1765 was no more than 1,951,769/. gs. 5</.f, yet
two Sums having been advanced for the Purchafe of the JJle of
Man^ and for the Alteration in the Pay-days of the confolidated
4^r CenU together amounting to 2y^,2^6l. 55. which are only
an occafional Application of Part of the Produce, fo much muft
l)e reftored to it, and then the real Surplus of 1765 above the
* From this as from other thr like Sums a (mall Dedudion miift be made fdr
Mon-Intereft BillS) and for the Interefl accrued on the others.
proper
\\l
for
Ipcr
[ 107 ]
proper Charges upon the Sinking Fund, appears to have been
5,227,015/. 14J. 5^.5, which is more than that of 1764, even
including the accidental Advantage of a Quarter's Produce of the
Beer Duty in the Account of that Year i but deducting that Sum,
the Difference will be near 150,000/. in favour of the latter Year.
The difpofeable Money was however no more than 1,951,769/.
95. 5^.i, and the Chri/imas Quarter yielding lefs than ufuai,
about 30,000/. was wanting of the 2,100,000/. intended to be
raifed by that Time : And as this Deficiency muft be fupplied
Out of the firft Monies arifing in the ^r/7 Quarter, fo much muft
be added to the 1,1 50,000/. which the Sinking Fund is given for
this Year, and 1,180,000/. therefore appears to be the eftimated
Produce to Chrifimas next, that Quarter being again included in
the Computation.
But there is great Reafon to fear that under fuch Management
as has lately prevailed, the feveral Branches, which compofe the
Sinking Fund, will be lefs produftive than they would have been
under the former: And if there were no other Ground for the
Apprehenfion, than that a general Relaxation may be obferved
in almoft every Article where it is open to Difcovery, that alone
would juftify the Suppofition of its extending to others, in which
it may not be fo apparent: And the Attention, Vigilance and Ac-
tivity, by which the Revenue was improved, and without which
it cannot be preferved, do not feem to have belonged to an Ad-
minifl:ration, who were diftinguiflhed by many Conceflions, and
many OmifTions, but not by any A<fl of Vigour. The Surmife
grows ftill ftronger when we fee no one Step of Confequence
taken for the Improvement of the Revenue, in any of its various
and extenfive Branches, though the Miniflers were called upon
M exert themfelves by the Example, and urged to it by the Re-
proach, of the many Regulations made for this Purpofe by their
immediate Predeceflbrs : But the Symptoms are ftill worfe, when
the Plans begun are dcferted, or thofe which were eftabliftied
are impaired j and of ihefe ther* are many loftances : Several
have been mentioned already, where they avoided to bring in
aid of the Revenue certain grofs Sums, as Compofitions for Pri-
foners, Ballances of Accounts, &c. which were not only fug-
gefted, but exprefsly named to them, and the very Mode of re-
covering them clca'-'y mark'd by the preceding Meafures : Others
P were
■■\\
.\
It
1i
w
yi
•■x- i
[ io8] : ;
were eqiially notorious ; and have been equally negledled : When
the Purchafe of the I/In of M<tn-> and the fubfequent Provifions
vcrc made, the^ Defign was to follow them with fimllar Regu-
lations of the Intercourfe between this Kingdom, and the Iflands
of ferjay and Cucrrifty : No Parliamentary Interpofition was
neceflary. The King in Council being vefted with fufficient
Powers over thofe Pscmnants of the Dutchy of l^'ormandy: And
the vaft Influx of clandeftine Importation from thence calls for
the Exertion of thofe Powers : It was intended by the former
Miniftry ; that Intention was declared ; and the Means of ac-
complifhing it under Confideration ; but nothing has been done :
And the Plan for diftreffing all illegal Importation, by taking
away the Facilities which arife from the Situation of neighbour-
ing Iflands, is not only left unfiniftied ; but even the Efi^eds of
the Progrefs which had been made in it is to a Degree defeated,
while Smuggling though lliut out at one Entrance, finds Ad-
mittance at another. The Manner in which the Eftablifliment
of Cutters has been treated, is another ill Omen to the Revenue :
They have been reviled, ridiculed, and continued : The Expence
attending them is as great as ever : The Operation of them lefs:
The Minifters have acknowledged the Meafure to be right, by
continuing itj but the Diflike they fliewed to it, difcouraged the
Service: As the Perfons employed therein, could not hope to re-
commend themfelves by ASivity, nor fear to fufFer for R.miil-
nefs, in a Service, which the Adminiftration wiflied to cxpofe
and to condemn. The Do<5irines too, which have been lately
broached with Refpeft to the Colonies, and which portend ftill
further Relaxations of the Ads of Trade, and other Diminutions
of Revenue, will have a like EfFed there : All Vigour in exadt-
ing Obedience to the one, and coUedling the other, muft be at an
End under fuch a Syftem as the prefent : The pernicious Clan-
deftine Trade which was almofl: fuppreflled, is faid to be reviving
very faft : And it will encreafe, while the Execution of the
Laws is attended with Dangers Infractions of them efcape with
Impunity ; and the Officers of the Crown who faithfully dif-
charge their Duty, are expofed to InCults, and doubtful of Sup-
port. I have heard of other Inftances of Negled and Rcmiflf-
nefs : But thefe are notorious, and the EffeiSs of them extcnfive.
And thefe alone make the Profpedt of finding other Diminutions
and
[ 109 ]
and Deficiencies in the Revenue, more than mcer Matter of
Apprchenfion.
'■ They cannot have confuhed the commercial Int^refls of thit
Country, who have been thus carelefs of its Income, and prodi-
gal of its Treafurcs : For Trade and Revenue arc in many Ref-
peds nearly connected j and a judicious Management of the one,
tends to the Improvement of the other. Difcharge oC Debt, and
Reduction of Expence, prepare the Way for Alleviation of Du-
ties : But lefs Debt was difcharged, and much greater Expcnces
were incurred, by the laft than by the former Adminiftiation :
And the late Alterations in the Revenue have been fliewn to pro-
duce the fame fenfibie Effedls, as if eight Millions had been ex-
pended, and the Publick were charged with the Intereft : Trade
and Manufaiftures muft feel the Confequenccs : Even if the pro-
curing of commercial Advantages had been the Objedl of them,
thofc Advantages ought to be very great, to compcnfate for fuch
LoiTes and fuch Charges incurred to obtain them ; but in fad a
Very fmall part of the Whole 240,000/. has the leaft Relation to
any commercial Confiderations. It is not pretended that the En-
creafe in the Eftablifliment was made for fuch Purpofes : The
Repeal of the Cyder Tax has as little Connexion with Trade:
As to the Stamp-Adl; one of the principal Motives afligi ed for
the repealing it, was to remove the Diftrefs occafioncd here, by
the Reception of that Law in America j but that Diftrcfs did not
arirc out of the Adt : It was owing entirely to the refradlory Spirit
which had gone abroad in the Colonies; and which the Minif-
try (to fay the leaft thai can be faid of them) had ncglcded to
quell : No Tax was ever laid upon the Subjedl with more general
Approbation ; none was ever oppofcd with lefs Reafon, or with
fo much Violence : Sedition never met with fo little Refiftance
from Government : And the Repeal, upon whatever Grounds it
was made, was at the moft but an occafional Meafure. The on-
ly Alterations therefore in the Revenue which can be claimed as
general permanent Meafures for the Benefit of Trade, are the
Other Redudlions of the American Duties, particularly of thofe
upon Sugar, and upon Molaffcs. The taking oflf the enumerated
Duty upon Sugar, leads to no great Objedt, as the Commodity has
born the Burthen near a Century, and it was never fuppofed to
be a very heavy Grievance. The Redudipn of the Molaffcs Duty
..«.. P 2 18
'*W'
1}
i'liikt'ii.lX
,1*.
K*^?
[ >>o]
is a more confiderable Alteration : And though Three-pence on
a Gallon of Rum (for the Charge amuunted to no more) does not
iecm to be an intolerable Load upon fuch a Commodity, and the
EfFc(5l of it could not be th ^'•oughly known by one Year's Ex-
perience only, yet as a Duty Tone Penny mull inconteft^bly be
le(s inconvenient to the Trade, which the American Diftilleries
fupply, the Importance and the Extent of that Trade become the
principal Confiderations : And fo far as this Manufacture, (for it
is an American Manufailure to which the Indulgence has been
Ihewn, and fofar therefore) as it interferes with the Produce of
the Dritijlj Diftillery, either on the Coart: of Africa, or in the
Fifheries, it certainly ought not to be favoured ; fo far as it is
fupported by Molafles purchafed with Money, or as the Con-
fumption of their own Corn in the Dillilleries is prevented by the
Importation of Molafles, it «s not advantageous to the Colonics :
And the exceflive \](q o£ Spirits among themfelves, lias been
found to be fo pernicious to the People, that the Impofition of a
Duty ab the Means of checking it, has been often under Confide-
ration in the very Provinces which are mod concerned in the Ma-
nufadtory. That Part therefore of the Trade which does n Jt fall
within any of thefe Defcriptions, is alone deferving of Encourage-
ment ; and the Benefit which it is faid may arife from lowering
the Duty upon that Part, is the only commercial Advantage
fuppofed to be obtained, by a Diminution of 240,000/. per Arm.
in the difpofcable Revenue. ^
I pafs over here the other lefs important Articles which have
been mentioned before ; and to thefe mufl be added the opening
of Free Ports at Jamaica and Dominica j of which little can be
faid with Certainty, as it is a Conceflion which may be beneiitial
or may be dangerous to Trade : I can iee Advantages arlfing from
it, if proper Precautions be taken againft the Mifchiefs which
may attend fuch a Relaxation of the Ads of Navigation : But I
confefs myfelf not a competent Judge of the Plan which has been
adopted. It is a Subject which requires the moft mature Deli-
beration, much previous Enquiry, a watchful Jealonfly, and ex-
tenfive Provifionc : The Miniflers themfelves once thought they
were not prepared for fuch an Eflablifliment this Year : They
fuddenly changed their Opinion j but I have not altered mine :
I ftill wifh it had been pcilponed, till the whole Extent of the
Indul-
'ij (
I
[ '" ]
Indulgence and all Its Confcquences could have been examinee^,
and Care taken that no Detriment fhould mix itfcif with the Be-
nefits propofcd to the commercial Interefts o^ Great Britain.
But even fuppofing the Plan to be perfctl ; fuppofing the Repeal
of the Stamp-Ad to h.ive been expedient ; and allowing all the
Merit which the laft iMinifters can arrogate to themfelves from all
their Meaiures: They ftill muflnot pretend to Save promoted the
Intereft of the Colonics foeffentially or lo cxtcnlively as their Pre-
fieceffors had promoted them : The new Funds of Wealth and of
Trade which were opened by the former Adminiftration, exceed in
Value all the Hopes ever entertained from the Promiles given by
the latter: And the Advantages expeded from each differ fo widely
in the Circumffances attending them, that if they were equal ii»
amount, they would ftill not be of equal Importance : l^he for-
mer are Grants: The latter are ConceHions ; and the Confc-
quences mufl be very different from Beneficence and fr(>m Com-
pliance. But not to dwell upon this though a material Dii^inc-
tion, the Mode in which the Trade of the Colonies was encou-
raged by the one Adminiftration, muft tiave far more extenfive Ef-
fedts than that adopted by the other: For when Taxes are takeiv
ofFmeerely that the Sum which would have been railed by them,
may be thrown into Trade, the Value of that Benefit can be no
more than the Amount of thofe Taxes : And therefore if I were
to admit that all that vhe Revenue lofes by the Repeal of the
Stamp Adt, will be applied to commercial Purpofes, the Advan-
tage to Trade is but 100,000/. Whereas luch a Sum iudicioufly
given in Bounties might produce Millions : In the one Cafe, the
Expence and the Aequifition are exactly the lame : In the other
a fmall Expence purchafes a large Aequifition : But of aM the Be-
nefits done to the Colonies in 1766, none belong to the latter
Dcfcription, except the Alleviation of the Molafles Duties, the
Alterations made in the leller Duties, and the Eftahlil'hment of
the Free Ports : Allowing again to thefe all the Effedfs which
are barely poffible, ftill the warmeft Advocates- for them will not
be hardy enough to compare the Returns, which by fuch Means
may be made from the Colonies to this Country, with thofe which
the Encouragement given by the former Adminiftration to the
Fifheries, to the Culture of Rice, Hemp, and Flax, to the Sale
of Timber, and to the many other Articles of American Produce,
will furnifh. Befides the Objed of mofl: of thefe is to promote
and
If.
T
) '-
[n.2]
and extend Cultivation, whi-^h is the proper Bufinei's of Colonies ;
but the later Regulations have no fuch 'I'endency, except in ibmc
fifling Particulars : On the contrary, the Alteration ot the Mo-
lafl'es Duty was avowedly made for the Benefit of a Manufadure :
And Manufadlures more peculiarly belong to the Mother-Coun-
try: But even an Equality, which is the leaft that the BritiJJj
Diftillcries are entitled to, is not fccured to them under the pre-
fect very low Duty on Molafl'es : And the Preference due to the
Produce of Britijh Plantations is loft, in the Molafl'es, the Cotton,
and other Articles. In Addition to all thefe, another obvious
Difference prefents itfelf in the Conduv.^ of the two Adminiftra-
tions : The Meafures of the latter are founded almofl: entirely up-
on Speculation : They have been defended upon Principles re-
pugnant to thofe which have been always efteemcd to be the belt
adapted to the Management of Colonies : They are Experiments
fubllituted in the Place of Experience -, uncertain in their Event j
and perhaps dangerous in their Confequences. For there can be
no Aflurance of the Effeds immediate or diflant, which may en-
fue from Conceflions made to Colonies in a State of adual Refift-
ance: By the Eftablifliment of Free Ports, an opening may be
made for bringing the Produce of foreign Settlements into our
own ; or on the other Hand, for the Introduction of European
Miinufadtures into the Britifh Plantations : This and the other
Regulations which are intended to procure the Carriage of
Commoditiefi ralfed in the French lllands, may encreafe the
Confumption of thofe Commodities on the Continent oi ylme-
rico, to the Prejudice of our IVtJl- Indies j or facilitate the Ex-
portation of our enumerated Commodities to other Places than
to the Dominions oi Great Britain: And the Facilities given to
the Intercourfe between our and their Settlements, may either
furnifl) the Colonifls with the Means of making Returns to this
Country, or of diverting the Returns they were before provided
with, to other Countries. The Event in all thefe Inftances is at
leaft doubtful : Whereas the Meafures ol the former Adminiftra-
tion were certain of their Effects : To open a Vent for the Pro-
■duce of the Plantations, tc encourage Cultivation there, to extend
their Filheries, to prevent their clandcftine Trade, and to confine
,, their Confumption to the Manufadures of Great Britain^ Were
Meafures equally beneficial to die Mother- Country and to the
1 -; ; v.. -li :, .V :*j„; .. .^^^.^ ,.., ^.„ii>.*. ..», .Colonies,
m
["3]
Colonies, and cannot in any Event or by any Abufe become de-
trimental to either.
There was but one of Importance amcngfl: them from
which any bad Confcquenccs to Commerce were apprehended,
which was the Duty upon MolafTcs : But as I have had Occafiori
to mention that Subject more than once, and it would carry me
too far were I to enter into all the Confiderations which arife up-
on it, I will leave it to reft upon the Obfervations which have
before occurred, and upon that general Knowledge which the
PuWick is poficffed of, from its having been fo long the Topic of
Convcrfation. There was another Mealure of the fame Admiiiiftra-
tion, which it would be alfo tedious to dwell upon at prefent,
and which, if the Interefts of this Country had been confulted,
would not have been made an Objcdl of fo much Attention : I
mean the Stop fuppofed to have been put by Orders from hence
to the Importation of Gold into the Colonies. That no Orders
were given for that Purpofc, that on the contrary Orders were
difpatched to prevent any Interruption of the Trade, and that the
Merchants concerned were confulted and fatisficd, are Fadls which
have been proved, and are now univcrfally known : But the Cla-
mour raifed upon the Occafion may have mifchievous Confe-
quences, which they who encouraged it, muft anfvver for. As
groundlefs a Complaint though of a different Kind was made in
Relation to the Admiralty-Courts, as if the EftabliHiment were
an Innovation J o"- the life of them in fupport of Revenue and
commercial Laws were a Grievance ; whereas in fn<fl they are
coaeval with the Colonies, and the Appointment of Judges to
prefide in them, is referved to the Crown in the oiiginal Char-
ters. The Trial of Offences againft the Adl of Navigation, and
againft the Adl of Frauds is exprefsly given to them by thofe Adts,
paffed in the Reigns of Charles the Second and King William :
The Jurifdidion of Juftices of the Pence in America under the
Statutes of Queen Ann for the Prefervation of the King's Tim-
ber, is by the 8th Q. I. transferred to the Courts of Admiralty,
as being more proper Judges in Crown-Caufes than Magiftratts
eleded by the People : And in the fame Courts, the Penalties
under the Sugar Adt of 6th G. II. under I2th G. II. forallow-
ing the Exportation of Sugars, and under 2iftG. II. for encou-
raging the Growth of Indigo, are recoverable, from all which it
...I*' * appears
*:■*
n
_^ ^
^
I
%
appears that the Jurifdidion given to them in OfFenccj againft tlie
Stamp- Adt was agreeable to a conftant Series of IMantntion Laws:
And with Refped to this particular Branch of Revenue, the Pro-
ceedings arc not very different here : For except in two InAanccs
only, which affcdl none but Lawyers, the lik; Offences againfl:
the Stamp Adts in Britain arc triable in a fummary Way, with-
oi'tjury, before Jufticesof the Peace: Thefe arc far better Ma-
gillratcs than provincial, annual, eledlivc Juftices ; and yet can-
not be thought as refpcdlablc as a Judge of an Admiralty Court,
who has had an Education fuitable to the Office he fills, and en-
joys a Salary adequate to his Station. I'rovifion was made for fuch
a Magiftrate in the Colonics in the Year 1763, when one Court
of Admiralty was eftablifhcd at Halifax for all Amrrica^ having
concurrent Jurifdidlion with thofc which fubfillcd before, but
which were fallen into difrepute, on Account of the Incompe-
tency of the Judges j as it was impoffible to find Pcrfons quali-
fied to prefidc in every didindt Court, the only Remedy to this
which was the principal Grievance, was to make the Number
unneccffary, by verting in one Judge equal Powers with \x\\ the
others, and annexing to the Office fuch liberal Appointments, as
flaould induce Men regularly educated here, to accept of it: But
arother Inconvenience arofe from the Diftance at which many
of the Provinces were from this new Scat of Jufticc; and there-
fore a Plan was formed in 1765 for removing the Court from
Halifax to ISlttv Tork or Bojion, and for eftablifliing two others
at Philadelphia and at Charles-Town : Each of them to have cer-
tain Provinces within its DillridV, and all the Judges large Sala-
ries: By which Diftribution every Part of the Continent would
have been as near to its fupream Court of Admiralty, as fome
Parts of England arc to fFiJl/ninf/er-HaW ; and with this View a
Claufe was infcrted in the Stamp- Adt, diredling that all Offences
againft the Laws relative to Trade and Revenue, which by the
Ad: of the former Year were triable in the general Admiralty
Court, fliould be profecuted either in that of the Province, or in
any appointed or to be appointed which (hould have Jurifdidtion
in the Diftridt where the Offence fhould be committed. But
this Plan which was calculated for the Eafc and Satisfaction of
the Colonies, not having been compleatly carried into Execution
by the MiniAers who formed it, no Progrefs was made in it by
their
'^/
ifficir Succcflbrs : The Grievance was left to rankle in the Minds
of the People ; and now that the Stamp Ad is repealed without
excepting the Claufe above-mentioned, the intended Alteration is
defeated, and every Matter, however trifling or however tedious,
which can poflibly arifefrom oneExtremity of the Continent to the
other, out of any of the A(fls of Trade, or the whole Body of
thvi Cuftnm-houfe Laws, may be carried at the Will of the Pro-
fecutor to Htfli/'ax: All therefore that tlvi laft Minifters did with
Refped to the Admiralty-Courts, fo far as the mercantile People
may be affeded by them, was to frullratc the Relief which had
been held out, and to revive the Inconveniences which the for-
mer Adminiftration had endeavoured to remove.
In this then which has been called fo important an Objed, the
prefent Year is far from being marked with favour to the Colo-
nies : With Refpcd to their other commercial Interefts, whether
peculiar to themfelves, or common to them and to their Mother-
Country, many Proofs have been already adduced to fliew, how
much more liberally and more effedually they were confulted in
the preceding Years : And it muft further be acknowlegcd that
the Trade of the Colonies will fuffer greatly by the total Prohi-
bition of their Intercourfe with Ireland: For by an Adt of the
laft Seffions it is provided, that on taking any non- enumerated
Goods on board, Bond (liall be given in the fame Manner as for
the enumerated Commodities, not to land the fame in any Part
of Europe to the Northward of Cape Finijlcrre^ except in Great
Britain. 7rf/d«^ is not within that Defcription, and great Quan-
tities of Corn ufed to be annually imported into that Kingdom
from the Plantations ; the Linen Manufadories there almofl de-
pend upon the Supply of Flax Seed which they procured from
the Colonies j the Confumption of Pipe Staves, and other Arti-
cles of American Produce was very large : The Trade was necef-
fary to Ireland, and of the utmoft Importance to the Colonies,,
who there found an extenfive Vent ior their Commodities, and
thereby made Returns for their Demand of Britijlo Manufac-
tures : And the Lofs therefore which in Confequence of this In-
terruption they fuftain, will be a heavy Ballance againft any Ad-
vantages which may have been given to them.
And if upon the whole Account the laft Minifters have nof
equal Merit with the former, even in Regard to the Commerce
a pf
\
t
H
N;
•■:«* «\
w.
:)
I
T "6]
oi America ', in other Branches of Trade, they will not pretenfl
to a Competition : For excepting the Bounty upon BriiiPj-mzdQ
Cordage, and a few minute and official Regulations, I do not
•recolleft any Steps taken by them for commercial Purpofes, or for
the Encouragement of ManufaiSuics ; for the Prohibition of Fo-
reign Silks was not I underiland a minifterial Mcafure j and I
have th-refore paffed it unnoticed. * Againft this fingle Bounty
then when the Comparifon is drawn, ftand all thofe many and
important Meafures of the preceding Miniftry, which are not
partial, or local, or fpeciilative, but cxtenfive as our Commerce,
•various as our Manufadlures, and certain of their Effe(^s, upon
"Principles and Experience.
But the different Management of the Finances during the two
Periods will not even admit of Comparifon : They are dire(^ Con-
trafts : The one as diftinguiflied for Oeconomy as the other for
Profiifion : The former was all Adlivity and Vigour, exerted to
oppofe Encroachments on the Revenue, to dctecft Frauds, .: d
to redify Abufes : And Refearc'hes were made on every Side for
cncreafingthe Capital or the Income of the Nation : During the
latter there was not Energy enough in Adminiftration to enable
the Publick to avail itfelf of its own Property ; but univerfal Re-
laxation, Conceffion, and Negligence prevailed : And the Re-
venue, wherever they touched it, flirlvUcd before them: The
Refources which had been lately Opened, were cut off: Means
already provided, were diverted from their proper Application :
Others immediately in view, and diftindly pointed out, were
overlooked j and Sums which might have been brought in Aid,
were uifregarded j Improvements .which had been begun, w.ers
checked ; and ail Expcdlations of more, were difappointed ; the
Endeavours which had been ufed to prevent a. licentious Diffipa-
tion of the public Money, were fruftrated : Though Eftimates
were fwelled. Debt was accumulated : And the Sinking Fund
which had been foftered with fo much Care by the preceding
Minifters, which was raifed to fuch a Produce, and promifed
ilill more while it continued under their Management, now, in-
cumbered with additional Eftabiifliments, depr'ved of collateral
Support, and wafted by Diminutions in the Revenue, is labour-
* Far the fame Rcafon I omitted the Prohibition laid on foreigij Silk Stockings,
Miti and Gloves in J 765, the then Adminiftration having only confented to, not
pUn'd that Meafure. J '.'•;<'-'" ■.-■•» . . .*
^■' inff
i* ^^^i^
ing under Charges and Deficiencies, which fplght of all Reduc-
tions of Intereft, and Operations: of Finance, will remain inhe-
rently fixed to prey upon it for ever.
The Depreflion of Public Credit is the neceffary Confequence
of fuch Meafures ; and accordingly we fee that the Stocks do not
now (hew that Difpofition to rife which they did a Twelvemonth
ago, notwithstanding the Order reftored to the Finances by the
Adminiftration which was then difmilTed, and the large Produce
of the Sinking Fund, and the Provifion made for the Amount of
the whole unfunded Debt, (for though the Exchequer Bills are
llill out-ftanding, yet the funded Navy Annuities which have
been paid oflf are almoft equal to them j) yet notwithftanding
all thefe Circumftance?, which prove the Abilities of this Coun-
try, and the natural EfFe<5l of which would be to raife its Credit,
yet the Funds at the End of a Year of profound Peace feel now
the Abufes of that Time, and though a little higher, are in a
more uncertain Situation than they were at the Beginning, and
lower than they have been in ths Courfe of it : I do not judge
of them from accidental Circumftances which may have affed:ed
them, but the general State of them for fome Time part marks
Doubt and Apprehenfion, inftead of that Confidence which they
had begun to aflume. When the Minifters who had done fo
much for the Recovery of the Finances were difmifled in July
1765, the Price of the Three per Cents, was about * 87^, That
Event was not marked by any material Alteration in the Stocks ;
but as the EfFedts refulting from the Meafures of thofe Minifters
did not ccafe immediately with their Powers, the natural Incli-
nation of the Stocks to rife in Time of Peace continued as long
as thofe Meafures had any Operation : The Sinking Fund could
not fuftain any great Prejudice before the Beginning of Ochber,
when the Account of it was to be made up ; and nothing could
prevent the Payment of 870,000/. upon the Navy Annuities at
Cbrijim'-n ; till that Time tiicrefore the Stocks kept up to an ad-
vanced Price : And all the Difturbances in America did not lower
them; they were Aill at 91 to the End of December^ when the
whole Extent of thofe Dilordcrs was publick : But as foon as the
ne.v Year commenced, and the Abilities and the Meafures of
• To prevent Confufion in comparing the Prices, at different Time?, I fliall
in fitatiiig tlieni always dcdiid the Dividcrjds due upon tlicm : And I (hall keep to
4I1C 'J hiee^fr CtHti. as the bcft Meafure of the real Value ot the Stocks,
Qj2 tne
J, i
I'l
I
s
t ■<
:- ■' Xi.
■>n
\
t •
["8 1
the then Adminiftratlon began to be known, they Immediately
fell } nnr was this occafioned by Sufpence about the Fate of the
Stamp-A(fl ; for they continued after that was decided much be-
low the Point they had before arrived at, they remained fo to the
End of the laft Adminiftration, and they are now that America
is quiet, Two per Cent, lower than they were when it was known
to be throughout in Confufion : From hence a certain Judgement
may be formed of the real Merils of thofe Minifters : Though
fuch Pains were taken to perfuade the Nation that they were po-
pular ; yet the monied Men, they whofe Property was affeded
by their Condudl, faw that Property depreciated under fuch Ma-
nagement, and lowered the Price they expeded for it : They
knew the Confequences of allowing Extravagance to ravage,
while Deficiency was let in to confume tiie Revenue: At the Clofe
of the Account they found that the Loffes and Charges of a Year
of Peace, were equal to a Fund fufficient to provide for a German
Campaign : And they feared that further Depredations were im-
pending : They obferved that the Relief expeded by the Landed-
Jnter':ri was removed out of Sight j and that Trade and Manu-
fadures were not even flattered with the Hopes of any Allevia-
tion : They could perceive no Advances made towards any great
Operations of Finance, but on the contrary, the preparatory
Means which arife from Oeconomy and Improvement, abandon-
ed, or diverted, or deftroyed : And they dreaded the Poffibility
of a War, while the Opportunity of Peace, the Seafon to provide
for it, was unprofitably pafling away.
Nor is their Confidence reftored by the late Changes in the
Adminiftration, as no Affurance of a Change of Condudt can be
derived from them, all the prefent Minifters having been Parties \
to or having fupported the Meafures of the laft: Publick Credit
therefore is not revived by fuch an Arrangement, it even feems
to decline ftill more, for it feels that thfj Evils which have afi^eft-
ed it will grow inveterate by Continuance, and flir4nks under the
Apprehenfions of further Aggravations of them. Thefe Evils are
the more hardly born, becaufe they are not neceflaryj and be-
caufe they have daftied the Hopes which were entertained, when
fix Millions and a Half of Debt difcLarged or provided for, and
an Addition made of above Four hundred Thoufand Pounds to the
national Income, in the Space of two Years only, had proved the
Extent
; I
[ "9 ]
Extent of the Abilities, and the Number of Refources fllli left to this
Country : The Stocks then rofe j and they would have rifen to a
much gre&ier Height than they are atnow,if thefameMeafures had
been purfued ; but a different Syftem has check'd the Progrefs
natural to them in Times of Peace ; and fo long as that Syftem
prevails, we can pretend neither to an Independency of Trade,
nor a Permanency of Power. Drooping Credit, and Revenue
continually crumbling away, in a Seafon of perfedt Tranquility,
are alarming Circumflances to a commercial People : And fruf-
trate the Provifion neceflary to be made againft that Day, when
we fliall be called upon to maintain the Alcendancy we have ac-
quired in Europe : It wil! lot remain with us long, our Trade
cannot be protedVed, our Colonies cannot be preferved, our very
Exiftence cannot be fecured, if the Finances of the Kingdom be
ruined : In vain may we difcipline Armies, build Fleets, or form
Alliances, while the Means to make ufe of them are wanting ;
and by a fteady and judicious Management of the Revenue, and
by that alone, can thofe Means be procured. We have feen how
much may be gained in a fhort Time by fuch Management ; we
have feen how much may be loft in lefs Time by a contrary Con-
dudl : Let us judge then of the Meafures by their EfFedts : And
of the Minifters by their Meafures : The Decifion is important j
For the State of the Nation depends on the Syftem which is
chofcn for the Adminiftration of the Finances.
\
F J ^M I S.
ERRATA.
Page 24,
Line
26, after to inscribe. ' , >
i4-
16, after W7«6i6 dele //6^. h
5^>'
9, for brought read bought.
57^
7, for Compofition read Compenfation.
/■'
A, for then read tbcin.
95»
Column laft, Line 2, for 4'/. read 4^.
Line 3, for 3^/, rea(^ 3J.
"Ni
.j*Lj